Frequency Conversion of Ultrashort Pulses in Extended Laser-Produced Plasmas, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2016
Springer Series on Atomic, Optical, and Plasma Physics Series, Vol. 89

This book offers a review of the use of extended ablation plasmas as nonlinear media for HHG of high-order harmonic generation (HHG).  The book describes the different experimental approaches, shows the advantages and limitations regarding HHG efficiency and discusses the particular processes that take place at longer interaction lengths, including propagation and quasi-phase matching effects.  It describes the most recent approaches to harmonic generation in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) range with the use of extended plasma plumes, and how these differ from more commonly-used gas-jet sources. The main focus is on studies using extended plasmas, but some new findings from HHG experiments in narrow plasma plumes are also discussed. It also describes how quasi-phase-matching in modulated plasmas, as demonstrated in recent studies, has revealed different means of tuning enhanced harmonic groups in the XUV region.

After an introduction to the fundamental theoretical and experimental aspects of HHG, a review of the most important results of HHG in narrow plasmas is presented, including recent studies of small-sized plasma plumes as emitters of high-order harmonics. In Chapter 2, various findings in the application of extended plasmas for harmonic generation are analyzed. One of the most important applications of extended plasmas, the quasi-phase-matching of generated harmonics, is demonstrated in Chapter 3, including various approaches to the modification of perforated plasma plumes. Chapter 4 depicts the nonlinear optical features of extended plasmas produced on the surfaces of different non-metal materials.  Chapter 5 is dedicated to the analysis of new opportunities for extended plasma induced HHG. The advantages of the application of long plasma plumes for HHG, such as resonance enhancement and double-pulse method, are discussed in Chapter 6. Finally, a summary section brings together all of these findings and discuss the perspectives of extended plasma formations for efficient HHG and nonlinear optical plasma spectroscopy.

The book will be useful for students and scholars working in this highly multidisciplinary domain involving material science, nonlinear optics and laser spectroscopy. It brings the new researcher to the very frontier of the physics of the interaction between laser and extended plasma; for the expert it will serve as an essential guide and indicate directions for future research.

Preface.

Introduction. Theory and experiment of high-order harmonic generation in narrow and extended media.

I.1. High-order harmonic generation in isotropic medium: three-step model and macroscopic consideration of frequency conversion. I.2. Overview of the applications of long gaseous media for the HHG. References.

1. HHG in short-length plasmas.

1.1. Modern history and perspectives of harmonic generation in narrow plasma plumes. 1.2. Spatial coherence measurements of non-resonant and resonant high-order harmonics generated in narrow laser ablation plumes. 1.3. Resonance processes in plasma plumes. 1.4. Peculiarities of the high-order harmonics from different narrow plasmas generating at 1 kHz repetition rate. 1.5. Concluding comments. References.

2. HHG in extended plasmas.

2.1. Advanced properties of extended plasmas for efficient high-order harmonic generation. 2.2. Enhanced harmonic generation using different second-harmonic sources for the two-color pump of extended laser-produced plasmas. 2.3. Modification of modulated plasma plumes. 2.4. Characterization of the high-order harmonics of 64 fs pulses generated in extended plasma plumes. 2.5. Concluding comments. References.

3.1. Perforated target ablation for the formation of the modulated plasma for quasi-phase-matched harmonic generation. 3.2. Quasi-phase-matching of harmonics using the variable multi-jet plasmas. 3.3. QPM-induced enhancement of HHG during two-color pump of multi-jet plasmas. 3.4. Peculiarities of QPM harmonics using different targets and pump schemes. 3.5. Influence of plasma jet sizes and pulse energies on the characteristics of QPM harmonics. 3.6. Concluding comments. References.

4. Peculiarities of the HHG in the extended plasmas produced on the surfaces of different materials.

4.1. Harmonic generation in the plasmas produced on the 5-mm-long crystal surfaces. 4.2. Application of the laser plasmas produced on the extended surfaces of elemental semiconductors. 4.3. Application of carbon cluster-contained extended plasmas for the high-order harmonic generation of ultrashort pulses. 4.4. Morphology of laser-produced carbon nanoparticle plasmas and high-order harmonic generation of ultrashort pulses in extended clustered media. 4.5. Graphene-contained extended plasma: a medium for the coherent extreme ultraviolet light generation. 4.6. Concluding comments. References.

5. New opportunities of extended plasma induced harmonic generation.

6. Harmonic characterization using different HHG schemes.

6. 1. Characterization of the high-order harmonics generated in the extended plasmas. 6.2. Low- and high-order harmonic generation in the extended plasmas produced by laser ablation of zinc and manganese targets. 6.3 Application of double femtosecond pulses for plasma harmonic generation. 6.4. Concluding comments. References.

Summary: achievements and perspectives.

Rashid A. Ganeev is an internationally recognized expert in the field of High Harmonic Generation (HHG) in laser ablation plasmas. In the present book, he specifically addresses the case of extended ablation plasmas as nonlinear media for HHG. The book describes the different experimental approaches, shows the advantages and limitations regarding HHG efficiency and discusses the particular processes that take place at longer interaction lengths, including propagation and quasi-phase matching effects. Several schemes have been proposed such as exploitation of a resonance between pump laser and driven matter, use of nano-molecules and metal clusters, use on modulated extended plasmas and so on.

Presents a unique review of high-order harmonic generation of laser radiation in extended laser-produced plasma plumes

Demonstrates the attractive properties of extended laser-produced plasmas from the point of view of the high-order nonlinear optical properties of various materials

Explores the advantages of the application of long plasma plumes for high-order harmonic generation, such as resonance enhancement and the double-pulse method

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras