High-order harmonics enhancement in laser-induced plasma

Abstract

The methods of enhancement of the strong high-order harmonics of femtosecond pulses in laser-induced plasma are demonstrated. It comprises the application of the four techniques allowing the enhancement of harmonics in different spectral ranges. Among them are the selection of targets for ablation to create the conditions for resonance enhancement of single harmonic, formation of the quasi-phase-matching of a spectrally tunable group of harmonics, application of the two-color pump of plasma, and the formation of nanoparticles-contained plasmas. The number of generated coherent XUV photons increased in the region of single resonantly enhanced harmonic (62 nm) and the shorter-wavelength region (30–50 nm). The above techniques of harmonics enhancement allowed a significant (up to 50 times) growth in a whole harmonic yield in the case of indium plasma. We discuss the reasons preventing the joint implementation of the four methods of harmonics enhancement in the same spectral region.