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Persistent URL http://purl.org/net/epubs/work/32588465
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Record Id 32588465
Title Scaling High-Order Harmonic Generation from Laser-Solid Interactions to Ultrahigh Intensity
Contributors
Abstract Coherent x-ray beams with a subfemtosecond (<10−15  s) pulse duration will enable measurements of fundamental atomic processes in a completely new regime. High-order harmonic generation (HOHG) using short pulse (<100  fs) infrared lasers focused to intensities surpassing 1018  W cm−2 onto a solid density plasma is a promising means of generating such short pulses. Critical to the relativistic oscillating mirror mechanism is the steepness of the plasma density gradient at the reflection point, characterized by a scale length, which can strongly influence the harmonic generation mechanism. It is shown that for intensities in excess of 1021  W cm−2 an optimum density ramp scale length exists that balances an increase in efficiency with a growth of parametric plasma wave instabilities. We show that for these higher intensities the optimal scale length is c/ω0, for which a variety of HOHG properties are optimized, including total conversion efficiency, HOHG divergence, and their power law scaling. Particle-in-cell simulations show striking evidence of the HOHG loss mechanism through parametric instabilities and relativistic self-phase modulation, which affect the produced spectra and conversion efficiency.
Organisation CI
Keywords
Funding Information USA NSF; USADOE
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Language English (EN)
Type Details URI(s) Local file(s) Year
Journal Article Phys Rev Lett 110, no. 17 (2013): 175002. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.175002 2013