Title :
Phase matching, quasi phase matching and pulse compression in a single waveguide for enhancing high harmonic generation
Author :
Zhang, Xiaoshi ; Lytle, Amy ; Popmintchev, Tenio ; Paul, Ariel ; Wagner, Nick ; Murnane, Margaret ; Kapteyn, Henry ; Christov, Ivan P.
Author_Institution :
Joint Inst. for Lab. Astrophys., Colorado Univ., Boulder, CO, USA
Abstract :
We demonstrate enhancement of high harmonic generation in the technologically significant 95 eV photon energy region by combining phase matching, quasi phase matching, and pulse compression in a single gas-filled waveguide. The waveguide geometry allows us to use argon gas as the generating medium, which also leads to enhanced emission due to its higher nonlinearity. The induced shock front due to laser pulse compression in the ionizing gas medium also generates an X-ray continuum at low pressure, with a spectrum corresponding to an isolated, 50 attosecond, X-ray pulse.
Keywords :
argon; high-speed optical techniques; laser beams; optical harmonic generation; optical phase matching; optical pulse compression; optical waveguides; 50 as; 95 eV; Ar; X-ray continuum; argon gas; attosecond X-ray pulse; enhanced emission; harmonic generation; ionizing gas medium; laser pulse compression; quasiphase matching; single gas-filled waveguide; ultrafast nonlinear optics; Argon; Electric shock; Frequency conversion; Gas lasers; Geometrical optics; Optical pulse compression; Optical pulse generation; Photonics; Pulse compression methods; X-ray lasers;
Conference_Titel :
Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, 2005. QELS '05
Print_ISBN :
1-55752-796-2
DOI :
10.1109/QELS.2005.1549067