Abstract
The high-order harmonics generated when an intense, short-pulsed laser is focused into an atomic gas provide not only a surprisingly strong source of short wavelength, coherent radiation, but also prove to be a sensitive probe of the dynamics of atoms in strong electromagnetic fields. The source of the harmonic radiation is the polarization induced in the atomic medium by the pump laser. This polarization results from the distortion of the electronic charge density in each individual atom, producing a time-dependent dipole moment whose phase is determined by the phase of the driving field at the atom. The Fourier transform of the atomic dipole is directly related to the strengths and phases of the harmonic emission from the individual atoms. Interference between the harmonic fields produced at different points in the medium can be constructive or destructive depending on the phases set by the incident field. The overall harmonic conversion efficiency can depend very strongly on these phase matching effects. Therefore, modelling strong-field harmonic conversion requires both the calculation of the single atom response and the solution of the propagation equations for the harmonic fields.
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L’Huillier, A., Balcou, P., Schafer, K.J., Kulander, K.C. (1992). Coherence in Strong Field Harmonic Generation. In: Bandrauk, A.D., Wallace, S.C. (eds) Coherence Phenomena in Atoms and Molecules in Laser Fields. NATO ASI Series, vol 287. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3364-1_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3364-1_18
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