Interband resonant high-harmonic generation by valley polarized electron-hole pairs

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates high-harmonic generation in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides driven by mid-infrared light, revealing resonance effects, valley polarization influence, and potential for attosecond science applications.

Contribution

It uncovers the role of band nesting and valley polarization in enhancing high-harmonic generation in monolayer materials, with detailed analysis of electron-hole dynamics.

Findings

High harmonics up to 18th order observed exceeding bandgap.

Resonance with band nesting energy enhances even-order harmonics.

Valley polarization influences the polarization of emitted high harmonics.

Abstract

We demonstrated nonperturbative high harmonics induced by intense mid-infrared light up to 18th order that well exceed the material bandgap in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. The intensities of the even-order high-harmonic radiation did not monotonically decrease as the harmonic order increased. By comparing the high harmonic spectra with the optical absorption spectra, we found that the enhancement in the even-order high harmonics could be attributed to the resonance to the band nesting energy. The symmetry analysis shows that the valley polarization and anisotropic band structure lead to polarization of the high-harmonic radiation under excitation with the polarization along the zigzag direction. We also examined the possible recombination pathways of electrons and holes by calculating their dynamics in real and momentum spaces based on three-step model in solids. It revealed that, by considering the electrons and holes generated at neighboring lattice sites, the electron-hole polarization driven to the band nesting region should contribute to the high harmonic radiation. Our findings open the way for attosecond science with monolayer materials having widely tunable electronic structures.