Open AccessPolarization measurements of deep- to extreme-ultraviolet high harmonics generated in liquid flat sheets
Author(s) -
Vít Svoboda,
Zhong Yin,
Tran Trung Luu,
Hans Jakob Wörner
Publication year - 2021
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.433849
Subject(s) - extreme ultraviolet , attosecond , optics , high harmonic generation , harmonics , polarization (electrochemistry) , laser , physics , femtosecond , ultraviolet , radiation , materials science , optoelectronics , ultrashort pulse , voltage , chemistry , quantum mechanics
Laboratory-based coherent light sources enable a wide range of applications to investigate dynamical processes in matter. High-harmonic generation (HHG) from liquid samples is a recently discovered coherent source of extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) radiation potentially capable of achieving few-femtosecond to attosecond pulse durations. However, the polarization state of this light source has so far remained unknown. In this work, we characterize the degree of polarization of both low- and high-order harmonics generated from liquid samples using linearly polarized 400 nm and 800 nm drivers. We find a remarkably high degree of linear polarization of harmonics ranging all the way from the deep-ultraviolet (160 nm) across the vacuum-ultraviolet into the XUV domain (73 nm). These results establish high-harmonic generation in liquids as a promising alternative to conventional sources of XUV radiation, combining the benefits of high target densities comparable to solids with a continuous sample renewal that avoids the limitations imposed by laser-induced damage.