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Integrating solids and gases for attosecond pulse generation

Nature Photonics volume 11, pages 594–599 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

Control of the field of few-cycle optical pulses has had an enormous impact on attosecond science. Subcycle pulses open the potential for non-adiabatic phase matching while concentrating the electric field so it can be used most efficiently. However, subcycle field transients have been difficult to generate. We exploit the perturbative response of a sub-100 µm thick monocrystalline quartz plate irradiated by an intense few-cycle 1.8 µm pulse, which creates a phase-controlled supercontinuum spectrum. Within the quartz, the pulse becomes space–time coupled as it generates a parallel second harmonic. Vacuum propagation naturally leads to a subcycle electric-field transient whose envelope is sculpted by the carrier envelope phase of the incident radiation. We show that a second medium (either gas or solid) can generate isolated attosecond pulses in the extreme ultraviolet region. With no optical elements between the components, the process is scalable to very high energy pulses and allows the use of diverse media.

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Figure 1: Pulse compression via propagation through quartz and vacuum.
Figure 2: Petahertz optical oscilloscope measurement of the electric field through the focus.
Figure 3: CEP-dependent XUV spectra from xenon.
Figure 4: XUV spectra from other media.
Figure 5: Measured spectral intensity and phase of XUV radiation generated in xenon and quartz.

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Acknowledgements

We thank K. Oudatchin for providing the X-ray diffraction data used to verify the X-cut crystal orientation. We also thank T. Brabec and C. Macdonald for useful discussions, and D. Crane and B. Avery for technical assistance. This material is based on work supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) under award number FA9550-16-1-0109, the AFOSR Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative grant number FA9550-15-1-0037 and US Army Research Office grant W911NF-14-1-0383. The authors also acknowledge financial support from the National Research Council of Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1N 6N5, Ontario, Canada

    T. J. Hammond, Sylvain Monchocé, Chunmei Zhang, Giulio Vampa & P. B. Corkum

  2. Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, 32816, Florida, USA

    T. J. Hammond

  3. Stanford PULSE Institute, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, 94025, California, USA

    Giulio Vampa

  4. National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, K1A 0R6, Ontario, Canada

    Dennis Klug, A. Yu. Naumov, D. M. Villeneuve & P. B. Corkum

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Contributions

T.J.H. and S.M. conceived the initial idea. T.J.H., S.M. and C.Z. performed the experiment. T.J.H. and P.B.C. provided the model. T.J.H. provided the theory and analysed the experimental data. G.V. and D.K. provided the model for the quartz. T.J.H. and P.B.C. prepared the initial manuscript. All the authors contributed to the preparation of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to T. J. Hammond.

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Hammond, T., Monchocé, S., Zhang, C. et al. Integrating solids and gases for attosecond pulse generation. Nature Photon 11, 594–599 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2017.141

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