High Harmonic Generation without Tunnel-Ionization

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel High Harmonic Generation scheme based on single-photon ionization instead of tunnel-ionization, enabling new attosecond science applications and reducing nonlinearity in the process.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical and numerical HHG scheme that decouples ionization from recollision, expanding possibilities for high harmonic generation from highly-charged ions.

Findings

Ionization is decoupled from recollision in the scheme

High harmonics involve absorption and emission of different infrared colors

The process reduces nonlinearity compared to tunnel-ionization methods

Abstract

A new High Harmonic Generation (HHG) scheme, which doesn't rely on Tunnel-Ionization as the ionization mechanism but rather on Single-Photon Ionization, is theoretically proposed and numerically demonstrated. The scheme uses two driver fields: an extreme-ultraviolet driver which induces the ionization, and a circularly-polarized, co-rotating, two-color infrared driver carried at a fundamental frequency and its second harmonic which induces the recollision. Using Classical and time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation simulations of a model Argon atom, we show that in this scheme ionization is essentially decoupled from recollision. Releasing the process from being Tunneling-dependent reduces its degree of nonlinearity, which offers new capabilities in attosecond science, such as generation of High Harmonics from highly-charged ions, or from specific deep core electronic levels. It is shown that the emitted high harmonics involve the absorption of photons of one color of the infrared driver, and the emission of photons of the second color. This calls for future examination of the possible correlations between the emitted high harmonics.