MULTIPLE RESCATERINGS IN HARMONIC SPECTRA

IN MULTICYCLE MIDINFRARED LASERS

Le Thi Cam 1,2
Tu , Phan Thi Ngoc Loan3

1Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics Research Group, Advanced Institute of Materials Science, Ton Duc Thang University
2Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University
3Department of Physics, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education

Abstract
High-order harmonic generation is one of nonlinear phenomena occur- Results
ring when atoms/molecules are subjected to intense ultrashort laser [1]. The
Hydrogen atom interacts with a 7-cycle laser of λ = 1600 nm (ω0 = 0.0285
underlying physics is well described by the three-step model [2] in which an
a.u.), and E(t) = E0 f (t) sin (ω0t + δ(t) + π ), with E0 = 0.05 a.u., f (t) has trape-
electron is ionized from the atoms/molecules, then accelerated in the laser
zoidal shape, and δ(t) = − β c tanh ((t − t0)/τ0) as in Ref. [4] with β c = 9.25, τ0 =
electric field, and when the electric field reverses its direction, the electron
200, t0 = τ0/7.
can recombine to the parent ones and emit energetic photon called high-order
harmonics. The electron can revisit its parent ion many times before recom- (a) chirped
0.06 chirp-free
bining. This can lead to the generation of the pulse train of atto- or even
0.03

E(t) (a.u.)
zepto-second timescale [3] that is interesting from theoretical aspect as well as 0
application. This work is to study the multiple rescattering events in the har- −0.03

monic spectra from hydrogen atom exposed to multicycle midinfrared lasers −0.06
(b) R1 (4.27U p ) chirped
chirp-free
by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE). To uncover the 4.0 R2 (3.77U p )

Ek (units of U p)
R3 (3.34U p ) 3.17U p
3.0
contribution of multiple returns with different laser profiles, we perform the
2.0
time-frequency analysis based on a synchrosqueezed transform and classical 1.0
electron trajectories. The results show that the multiple rescatterings strongly 0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
depend on the change of the temporal laser profile, such as changing from t (optical cycles)
chirp-free to chirped pulses [4]. Figure 1: Laser profiles and classical kinetic energies.

HHG intensity (arb. units)

chirp-free pulse
Introduction 10−2 (a) 3.16U p

10−4
It has been known that to generate attosecond pulses, it is necessary to control 10−6
the electron trajectories which are affected by the temporal profile of laser field.
10−8
Therefore, a detailed understanding of the multiple returns process is desired. 20 40 60 80 100 120 Maximum orders from
HHG order (units of ω0) 1st: H103 (∼ 3.16U p)
−3
HHG order (units of ω0)

120
(b) 1st
2nd
−3.5 3rd: H83 (∼ 2.42U p)
Methodology 90
3rd −4
−4.5 2nd: H60 (∼ 1.57U p)
−5
60 −5.5
Calculation of HHG from the TDSE −6
30 −6.5
−7
In the length gauge and the dipole approximation, the TDSE reads as 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5
" #
∂ ∇2 1 tr (optical cycles)
i Ψ(r, t) = − − + E(t) · r Ψ(r, t)
∂t 2 r Figure 2: HHG and SST of H in chirp-free pulse.
where E(t) · r is the interaction potential between the electron and the electric
HHG intensity (arb. units)

chirped pulse
field. To solve this equation, we expand Ψ(r, t) as a linear combination of the 10−2 (a) 3.31U p
eigenfunctions of the field-free Hamiltonian, which are radial functions Φnl (r ) 10−4 3.76U p
using B-spline basis set [5] multiplied by spherical harmonics
10−6
lmax ∞
Ψ(r, t) = ∑ ∑ Cnl (t)Φnl (r)Yl0(θ, ϕ). 20 40 60 80 100
HHG order (units of ω0)
120 Maximum orders from
l =lmin n=1 1st: H119 (∼ 3.76U p)
−3
HHG order (units of ω0)

Cnl (t) are time-dependent coefficients updated by the Crank-Nicolson algorithm. (b) 1st −3.5 3rd: H85 (∼ 2.5U p)
p

2nd
U

120
76

−4
p
U

3rd
2nd: H60 (∼ 1.57U p)
3.

HHG intensity Z at frequency ω2

31

−4.5
3.

90 −5
S(ω ) ∝  h a(t)i e−iωtdt , where h a(t)i = − hΨ(t)|1/r2 + E(t)|Ψ(t)i . −5.5
 
60 −6
−6.5
30 −7
−7.5
2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5
Time-frequency analysis tr (optical cycles)

Time-frequency profile is obtained from a synchrosqueezed transform (SST) [6] Figure 3: HHG and SST of H in chirped pulse.
1 
Z    
S(t, Ω) = V (t, η ) h Ω − ω f (t, η )/α dη,

α
where α > 0 but small enough, η ∈ R+, and V (t, η ) is the Gabor transform Conclusion
( 0 − t )2
1 t
Z
− 0 − iη ( t 0 −t) 0
V (t, η ) = √ e 2σ a(t )e
2 dt , By performing SST and classical electron trajectories
2πσ
− x 2 • uncover the underlying mechanism of harmonic process from hydrogen atom
with σ = (3ω0)−1. h( x ) = e
√
π
, in which the instantaneous frequency function is exposed to a multicycle midinfrared laser;

− i∂tV (t,η ) , if V (t, η ) 6= 0, • show the effect of chirped laser on harmonic spectra: extend the cutoff order
ω f (t, η ) = V (t,η )
∞, (contribution of 1st order returns) while maintain the contribution of high-
if V (t, η ) = 0.
order returns as in the chirp-free case.
Once obtained a SST spectrum can reveal the emission time as well as intensity
of a harmonic. Unfortunately, the SST cannot distinguish which return gives rise References
to the harmonic, we need performing the classical kinetic energy maps to clas-
sify the SST into the electron trajectory categories. The electron kinetic energy [1] A. McPherson et al., J. Opt. Soc. Am. B, vol. 4, p. 595, 1987.
as a function of returning time tr is obtained by the classical equation of motion
[2] M. Lewenstein et al., Phys. Rev. A, vol. 49, p. 2117, 1994.
z̈(t) = − E(t). If an electron is released at the ionization time ti at the origin
z(ti ) = 0 with ż(ti ) = 0, then tr is defined by z(tr ) = 0. This equation has mul- [3] C. Hernández-Garcı́a et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 111, p. 033002, 2013.
tiple solutions corresponding to orders of rescatterings. The maximum kinetic [4] J. J. Carrera et al., Phys. Rev. A, vol. 75, p. 033807, 2007.
energy that the electron possesses at tr is Ek = 12 ż2(tr ) which determines the fre- [5] H. Bachau et al., Rep. Prog. Phys., vol. 64, p. 1815, 2001.
quency of harmonic photon as ω = Ek + I p, where I p is the ionization potential. [6] Y.-l. Sheu et al., AIP Advances, vol. 4, no. 11, p. 117138, 2014.

II Workshop of Signals and Systems Laboratory (WSSL 2019)