Generation of high harmonics and attosecond pulses with ultrashort laser pulse filaments and conical waves

Abstract

Results illustrating the nonlinear dynamics of ultrashort laser pulse filamentation in gases are presented, with particular emphasis on the filament properties useful for developing attosecond light sources. Two aspects of ultrashort pulse filaments are specifically discussed: (i) numerical simulation results on pulse self-compression by filamentation in a gas cell filled with noble gas. Measurements of high harmonics generated by the pulse extracted from the filament allows for the detection of intensity spikes and subcycle pulses generated within the filament. (ii) Simulation results on the spontaneous formation of conical wavepackets during filamentation in gases, which in turn can be used as efficient driving pulses for the generation of high harmonics and isolated attosecond pulses

Nonlinear rovibrational polarization response of water vapor to ultrashort long-wave infrared pulses

“…This phenomenon has possible applications in longrange free-space optical communication, remote sensing [4,5], synthesis of ultrashort pulses by higher harmonics generation [6,7], and lightning guiding [8][9][10], to name but a few. The atmospheric transparency windows in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) (3-5 μm) [11,12] and long-wave infrared (LWIR) (8-12 μm) [13,14] regimes are of particular interest.…”