Conservation of torus-knot angular momentum in high-order harmonic generation

TL;DR

This paper theoretically demonstrates that high-order harmonic generation conserves torus-knot angular momentum, with implications for controlling the orbital angular momentum of emitted attosecond pulses.

Contribution

It reveals that the torus-knot angular momentum is conserved in high-order harmonic generation and shows how this affects the polarization and orbital angular momentum of the harmonics.

Findings

Harmonics' charge J_γ scales linearly with harmonic order

Conservation law influences polarization distribution of emitted pulses

Full yield of each harmonic is channeled into a single orbital angular momentum mode

Abstract

High-order harmonic generation stands as a unique nonlinear optical up-conversion process, mediated by a laser-driven electron recollision mechanism, which has been shown to conserve energy, momentum, and spin and orbital angular momentum. Here we present theoretical simulations which demonstrate that this process also conserves a mixture of the latter, the torus-knot angular momentum $J_\gamma$, by producing high-order harmonics with driving pulses that are invariant under coordinated rotations. We demonstrate that the charge $J_\gamma$ of the emitted harmonics scales linearly with the harmonic order, and that this conservation law is imprinted onto the polarization distribution of the emitted spiral of attosecond pulses. We also demonstrate how the nonperturbative physics of high-order harmonic generation affect the torus-knot angular momentum of the harmonics, and we show that this configuration harnesses the spin selection rules to channel the full yield of each harmonic into a single mode of controllable orbital angular momentum.