Multibeam synthesis of high-power subcycle field waveforms

Abstract

We identify physical scenarios whereby high-peak-power subcycle attosecond field waveforms can be synthesized by coherently combining a multibeam high-order harmonic output generated by a laser driver consisting of a pair of few-cycle pulses with different carrier frequencies. With the relative amplitudes, phases, and group delays of these driver pulses carefully adjusted in each of the driver beams toward confining the recollisions of highest-pondermotive-energy electrons to an extremely short time gate within a fraction of the driver field cycle, the phase-matched multibeam high-harmonic output can be tailored to yield an intense isolated subgigawatt sub-10-attosecond field waveform. As a general tendency, propagation effects are shown to limit the minimum pulse width of the multibeam high-harmonic output. Still, with appropriate optimization of the gas pressure and the beam geometry, ≈10-attosecond field waveforms can be synthesized at the expense of one to two orders of magnitude of the output radiation energy.