Open AccessBright, single helicity, high harmonics driven by mid-infrared bicircular laser fields
Author(s) -
Kevin M. Dorney,
Ting-Jun Fan,
Quynh L. Nguyen,
Jennifer L. Ellis,
Daniel D. Hickstein,
Nathan J. Brooks,
Dmitriy Zusin,
Christian Gentry,
Carlos Hernández-García,
Henry C. Kapteyn,
Margaret M. Murnane
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.440813
Subject(s) - attosecond , physics , high harmonic generation , femtosecond , circular polarization , optics , harmonics , photon energy , helicity , laser , polarization (electrochemistry) , photon , elliptical polarization , atomic physics , linear polarization , ultrashort pulse , chemistry , particle physics , quantum mechanics , microstrip , voltage
High-harmonic generation (HHG) is a unique tabletop light source with femtosecond-to-attosecond pulse duration and tailorable polarization and beam shape. Here, we use counter-rotating femtosecond laser pulses of 0.8 µm and 2.0 μm to extend the photon energy range of circularly polarized high-harmonics and also generate single-helicity HHG spectra. By driving HHG in helium, we produce circularly polarized soft x-ray harmonics beyond 170 eV-the highest photon energy of circularly polarized HHG achieved to date. In an Ar medium, dense spectra at photon energies well beyond the Cooper minimum are generated, with regions composed of a single helicity-consistent with the generation of a train of circularly polarized attosecond pulses. Finally, we show theoretically that circularly polarized HHG photon energies can extend beyond the carbon K edge, extending the range of molecular and materials systems that can be accessed using dynamic HHG chiral spectro-microscopies.