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Influence of the laser pulse duration in high-order harmonic generation

Westerberg, S. LU ; Redon, M. LU ; Raab, A. K. LU ; Beaufort, G. LU ; Arias Velasco, M. ; Guo, C. LU ; Sytcevich, I. LU ; Weissenbilder, R. LU ; O’Dwyer, D. and Smorenburg, P. , et al. (2025) In APL Photonics 10(9).
Abstract

High-order harmonic generation (HHG) in gases has been studied for almost 40 years under many different conditions, varying the laser wavelength, intensity, focusing geometry, target design, gas species, etc. However, no systematic investigation of the effect of the pulse duration has been performed despite its expected impact on phase-matching of the high-order harmonics. Here, we develop a compact post-compression method based on a bulk multi-pass cell enabling tunable Fourier-limited pulse durations. We examine the HHG yield as a function of the pulse duration, ranging from 42 fs to 180 fs, while maintaining identical focusing conditions and generating medium. Our findings reveal that, for a given intensity, there exists an optimum... (More)

High-order harmonic generation (HHG) in gases has been studied for almost 40 years under many different conditions, varying the laser wavelength, intensity, focusing geometry, target design, gas species, etc. However, no systematic investigation of the effect of the pulse duration has been performed despite its expected impact on phase-matching of the high-order harmonics. Here, we develop a compact post-compression method based on a bulk multi-pass cell enabling tunable Fourier-limited pulse durations. We examine the HHG yield as a function of the pulse duration, ranging from 42 fs to 180 fs, while maintaining identical focusing conditions and generating medium. Our findings reveal that, for a given intensity, there exists an optimum pulse duration—not necessarily the shortest—that maximizes conversion efficiency. This optimum pulse duration increases as the intensity decreases. The experimental results are corroborated by numerical simulations, which show the dependence of HHG yield on the duration and peak intensity of the driving laser and underscore the importance of the interplay between light-matter interaction and phase-matching in the non-linear medium.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
APL Photonics
volume
10
issue
9
article number
096103
publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
external identifiers
  • scopus:105015045347
ISSN
2378-0967
DOI
10.1063/5.0272968
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
02179efa-855a-4773-b694-a18dd1e1afdc
date added to LUP
2025-10-16 11:28:27
date last changed
2025-10-16 11:29:09
@article{02179efa-855a-4773-b694-a18dd1e1afdc,
  abstract     = {{<p>High-order harmonic generation (HHG) in gases has been studied for almost 40 years under many different conditions, varying the laser wavelength, intensity, focusing geometry, target design, gas species, etc. However, no systematic investigation of the effect of the pulse duration has been performed despite its expected impact on phase-matching of the high-order harmonics. Here, we develop a compact post-compression method based on a bulk multi-pass cell enabling tunable Fourier-limited pulse durations. We examine the HHG yield as a function of the pulse duration, ranging from 42 fs to 180 fs, while maintaining identical focusing conditions and generating medium. Our findings reveal that, for a given intensity, there exists an optimum pulse duration—not necessarily the shortest—that maximizes conversion efficiency. This optimum pulse duration increases as the intensity decreases. The experimental results are corroborated by numerical simulations, which show the dependence of HHG yield on the duration and peak intensity of the driving laser and underscore the importance of the interplay between light-matter interaction and phase-matching in the non-linear medium.</p>}},
  author       = {{Westerberg, S. and Redon, M. and Raab, A. K. and Beaufort, G. and Arias Velasco, M. and Guo, C. and Sytcevich, I. and Weissenbilder, R. and O’Dwyer, D. and Smorenburg, P. and Arnold, C. L. and L’Huillier, A. and Viotti, A. L.}},
  issn         = {{2378-0967}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  publisher    = {{American Institute of Physics (AIP)}},
  series       = {{APL Photonics}},
  title        = {{Influence of the laser pulse duration in high-order harmonic generation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0272968}},
  doi          = {{10.1063/5.0272968}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}