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Sub-cycle control of terahertz high-harmonic generation by dynamical Bloch oscillations

Nature Photonics volume 8, pages 119–123 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Ultrafast charge transport in strongly biased semiconductors is at the heart of high-speed electronics, electro-optics and fundamental solid-state physics1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13. Intense light pulses in the terahertz spectral range have opened fascinating vistas14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21. Because terahertz photon energies are far below typical electronic interband resonances, a stable electromagnetic waveform may serve as a precisely adjustable bias5,11,17,19. Novel quantum phenomena have been anticipated for terahertz amplitudes, reaching atomic field strengths8,9,10. We exploit controlled (multi-)terahertz waveforms with peak fields of 72 MV cm−1 to drive coherent interband polarization combined with dynamical Bloch oscillations in semiconducting gallium selenide. These dynamics entail the emission of phase-stable high-harmonic transients, covering the entire terahertz-to-visible spectral domain between 0.1 and 675 THz. Quantum interference of different ionization paths of accelerated charge carriers is controlled via the waveform of the driving field and explained by a quantum theory of inter- and intraband dynamics. Our results pave the way towards all-coherent terahertz-rate electronics.

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Figure 1: Field-sensitive terahertz nonlinear optics.
Figure 2: CEP-stable terahertz HHG in bulk GaSe.
Figure 3: Sub-cycle carrier dynamics driven by CEP-stable terahertz transients.
Figure 4: CEP control of terahertz HHG in GaSe.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank K. Renk and T. Cocker for helpful discussions. This work was supported by the European Research Council (via starting grant QUANTUMsubCYCLE) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant no. KI 917/2-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, 93040, Germany

    O. Schubert, M. Hohenleutner, F. Langer, B. Urbanek, C. Lange & R. Huber

  2. Department of Physics, University of Marburg, Marburg, 35032, Germany

    U. Huttner, D. Golde, M. Kira & S. W. Koch

  3. Department of Physics, University of Paderborn, Paderborn, 33098, Germany

    T. Meier

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  1. O. Schubert
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Contributions

O.S., M.H., F.L. and R.H. conceived the study. O.S., M.H., F.L., B.U., C.L. and R.H. carried out the experiment. U.H., D.G., T.M., M.K. and S.W.K. developed the quantum-mechanical model and carried out the computations. O.S., M.H., F.L., U.H., M.K., S.W.K and R.H. wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results.

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Correspondence to R. Huber.

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Schubert, O., Hohenleutner, M., Langer, F. et al. Sub-cycle control of terahertz high-harmonic generation by dynamical Bloch oscillations. Nature Photon 8, 119–123 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.349

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