Harmonics Generation in the Laser-Induced Plasmas of Metal and Semiconductor Carbide Nanoparticles

Carbon-containing plasma is an attractive medium for generation of harmonics of laser pulses in the extreme ultraviolet range. We ablate two metal carbide (B₄C and Cr₃C₂) nanoparticles and silicon carbide (SiC) nanoparticles and generate harmonics after propagation of 35 fs pulses through the laser-induced plasmas. We analyze the spectra, spectral shifts, and splitting of harmonics from nanoparticles-contained plasmas, which demonstrate the chirp-related harmonic cut-off scaling. In addition, we present the simplified two-color pump model calculations of HHG based on the strong field approximation.