High-energy coherent continuum radiation is generated by the interaction of rare gases with a high-power many-cycle laser field, utilizing the interferometric polarization gating technique. A narrow temporal gate is formed in the laser pulse within which the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) emission is restricted. An analytical expression for the gate function is derived. A super-XUV continuum down to 15 nm, broad enough to support synthesis of single pulses of 260 as duration and a few tens of nanojoule energy, has been measured. These results directly challenge the perspectives of single-attosecond pulse XUV-pump-XUV-probe applications.

The two basic approaches underlying most of the metrology of attosecond pulse trains are compared in the spectral region ∼14−24 eV, that is, the second-order intensity volume autocorrelation and the resolution of attosecond beating by interference of two photon transitions (RABITT). They give rather dissimilar pulse durations. It is concluded that for the present experimental conditions RABITT may underestimate the duration under measurement, due to variations of the driving intensity, but in conjunction with theory allows an estimation of the relative contributions of two different electron trajectories to the extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) radiation.

We analyze a method to selectively grow straight, vertical gallium nitride nanowires by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) at sites specified by a silicon oxide mask, which is thermally grown on silicon (111) substrates and patterned by electron-beam lithography and reactive-ion etching. The investigated method requires only one single molecular beam epitaxy MBE growth process, i.e., the SiO2 mask is formed on silicon instead of on a previously grown GaN or AlN buffer layer. We present a systematic and analytical study involving various mask patterns, characterization by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy, as well as numerical simulations, to evaluate how the dimensions (window diameter and spacing) of the mask affect the distribution of the nanowires, their morphology, and alignment, as well as their photonic properties. Capabilities and limitations for this method of selective-area growth of nanowires have been identified. A window diameter less than 50 nm and a window spacing larger than 500 nm can provide single nanowire nucleation in nearly all mask windows. The results are consistent with a Ga diffusion length on the silicon dioxide surface in the order of approximately 1 μm.