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Investigation of Early Plasma Evolution Induced by Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Published on: July 2, 2012
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Intense attosecond pulses carrying orbital angular momentum using laser plasma interactions
J W Wang1, M Zepf2,3, S G Rykovanov4
1State Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 201800, Shanghai, China. wangjw@siom.ac.cn.
Nature Communications
|December 6, 2019
Summary
Intense extreme ultra-violet (XUV) attosecond pulses with orbital angular momentum (OAM) are naturally generated from non-vortex laser beams interacting with a target. This overcomes challenges in producing OAM in high-intensity XUV light.
Area of Science:
- * Quantum optics
- * Laser physics
- * Attosecond science
Background:
- * Light beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) offer an extra degree of freedom for coherent light.
- * Generating OAM beams in the extreme ultra-violet (XUV) at high intensities is challenging using conventional methods like phase plates or gratings.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To theoretically and numerically demonstrate a novel method for generating intense XUV surface harmonics with OAM.
- * To investigate the intrinsic dynamics of laser-matter interaction for OAM generation.
Main Methods:
- * Theoretical and numerical modeling of intense circularly-polarized Gaussian laser beams interacting with a target at normal incidence.
- * Utilizing the relativistic oscillating mirror mechanism for XUV harmonic generation.
- * Analyzing the conversion of spin angular momentum to orbital angular momentum during harmonic generation.
Main Results:
- * Intense surface harmonics carrying OAM are naturally produced from non-vortex laser beams.
- * The process involves relativistic surface oscillations converting laser pulses to XUV radiation.
- * Azimuthal and radial dependencies in harmonic generation facilitate the spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion.
Conclusions:
- * A new pathway for generating high-intensity XUV attosecond pulses with OAM has been demonstrated.
- * This method bypasses the need for complex optical elements for OAM beam formation in the XUV spectrum.
- * The findings open possibilities for advanced applications utilizing OAM-carrying XUV light.
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