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Using Microwave and Macroscopic Samples of Dielectric Solids to Study the Photonic Properties of Disordered Photonic Bandgap Materials
Published on: September 26, 2014
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Symmetry-controlled time structure of high-harmonic carrier fields from a solid
F Langer1, M Hohenleutner1, U Huttner2,3
1Department of Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
Nature Photonics
|June 3, 2017
Summary
High-harmonic generation in crystalline solids allows control over the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) and polarization of attosecond pulses. This breakthrough enables novel waveform shaping capabilities not possible with gaseous sources.
Area of Science:
- Solid-state physics
- Quantum optics
- Attosecond science
Background:
- High-harmonic (HH) generation in solids is a developing field with applications in attosecond sources and bandstructure reconstruction.
- Previous work focused on HH intensity, but the carrier wave properties remained unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the carrier wave properties of HH pulses generated in crystalline solids.
- To explore methods for controlling the polarization and carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of these HH pulses.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of HH waveforms generated by consecutive half-cycles of a driving pulse in crystalline solids.
- Extension of frequency comb concepts to optical clock rates.
- Investigation of crystal symmetry's role in controlling HH pulse properties.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated control over polarization and CEP of HH pulses through crystal symmetry.
- Separated orthogonally polarized HH combs with mutual frequency offset, forming combs of even and odd harmonic orders.
- Observed constant or π-offset CEP for successive pulses based on polarization.
Conclusions:
- Identified novel capabilities for polarization- and phase-shaping of HH waveforms in solids.
- These capabilities surpass those achievable with gaseous HH sources.
- The findings offer new avenues for manipulating light-matter interactions at the quantum level.
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