Open AccessEffect of nuclear motion on spectral broadening of high-order harmonic generation
Author(s) -
Xiaolong Yuan,
Pengfei Wei,
Candong Liu,
Xiaochun Ge,
Yi Zheng,
Zhinan Zhang,
Ruxin Li
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.24.008194
Subject(s) - high harmonic generation , harmonic spectrum , physics , atomic physics , ionization , harmonic , doppler broadening , laser , yield (engineering) , pulse (music) , spectral line , optics , quantum mechanics , ion , thermodynamics , detector
High-order harmonic generation (HHG) in molecular targets is experimentally investigated in order to reveal the role of the nuclear motion played in the harmonic generation process. An obvious broadening in the harmonic spectrum from the H 2 molecule is observed in comparison with the harmonic spectrum generated from other molecules with relatively heavy nuclei. We also find that the harmonic yield from the H 2 molecule is much weaker than the yield from those gas targets with the similar ionization potentials, such as Ar atom and N 2 molecule. The yield suppression and the spectrum broadening of HHG can be attributed to the vibrational motion of nuclear induced by the driving laser pulse. Moreover, the one-dimensional (1D) time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE) with the non-Born-Oppenheimer (NBO) treatment is numerically solved to provide a theoretical support to our explanation.