Apparatus for generation of nanojoule-class water-window high-order harmonics

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel high-energy, water-window high-order harmonic generation setup using a terawatt mid-infrared laser and a specialized gas cell, achieving nanojoule-level soft X-ray pulses suitable for attosecond applications.

Contribution

The study introduces a new apparatus combining a terawatt mid-infrared laser with a double-structured pulsed-gas cell, enabling energy scaling and high-pressure operation for water-window harmonic generation.

Findings

Generated water-window harmonic beam exceeds 100 times previous intensity.

Achieved phase-matched harmonic generation at 1 bar helium pressure.

Developed a differential pumping gas cell reducing gas consumption.

Abstract

In our recent study [Commun. Phys. 3, 92 (2020)], we have developed an approach for energy-scaling of high-order harmonic generation in water-window region under neutral-medium condition. More specifically, we obtained nanojoule-class water-window soft x-ray harmonic beam under phase match condition. It has been achieved by combining a newly developed terawatt-class mid-infrared femtosecond laser and a loose focusing geometry for high-order harmonic generation. The generated beam is more than 100 times intense compared to previously reported results. The experimental setup included two key parts: terawatt mid-infrared femtosecond driving laser [ Sci. Rep. 8, 7692 (2018)] and specially designed gas cell. Despite the dramatic drop in the optimal gas pressure due to loose focusing geometry, it still reached 1 bar level for helium. Moreover, faster leaking speed caused by larger pinhole size of the gas cell made the use of a normal gas cell impossible. Thus, we have designed a double-structured pulsed-gas cell with a differential pumping system, which enabled providing sufficiently high gas pressure. Moreover, it allowed reducing gas consumption significantly. Robust energy-scalable apparatus for high-order harmonic generation developed in in this study will enable the generation of over tens nanojoule water-window attosecond pulses in the nearest future.