Pietro Paolo Corso

Generation of isolated attosecond pulses using unipolar and laser fields

A new scheme to generate isolated attosecond pulses is presented that involves the use of a laser field and of a unipolar field. The laser field has a pulse of intensity I = 1.5×1014 W cm−2 and wavelength λ = 820 nm. The unipolar pulse is an asymmetric pulse consisting of a sharp peak, lasting approximately half a laser period, i.e. nearly 1.4 fs, followed by a long and shallow tail. We show that on combining these two fields, it is possible to generate isolated attosecond pulses as short as 1/10 of a laser period, i.e. approximately 270 as. Moreover, it is argued that this scheme is robust either against small variations of the laser envelope, or against small changes in the delay between the laser pump and the unipolar pulse.

A paradigm of fullerene

We study the dynamics of an electron constrained over the surface of a rigid sphere, with geometrical parameters similar to those of the C60 fullerene, embedded in a low intensity linearly polarized laser field. The model is shown to emit odd harmonics of the laser even at very low field intensity. For more intense laser fields, the spectrum presents odd harmonics and hyper-Raman lines shaped in a broad plateau. The spectrum of the model is compared to that theoretically obtained by other authors for more realistic models of C60. It is concluded that the model can be used as a paradigm for mesoscopic molecules in the fullerene family, particularly in practical applications where it is convenient to have a simple model of fullerene molecules. It is also concluded that the model is an example lending support to the concept of universality introduced by other authors some time ago.

A three-colour scheme to generate isolated attosecond pulses

We propose a new scheme to produce isolated attosecond pulses, involving the use of three laser pulses: a fundamental laser field of intensity I = 3.5 × 1014 W cm−2 and of wavelength λ = 820 nm, and two properly chosen weak lasers with wavelengths 1.5λ and 0.5λ. The three lasers have a Gaussian envelope of 36 fs full width at half maximum. The resulting total field is an asymmetric electric field with an isolated peak. We show that a model atom, interacting with the above-defined total field, generates an isolated attosecond pulse as short as 1/10 of a laser period, i.e. approximately 270 as.

Direct theoretical evidence of nuclear motion in H2+ by means of high harmonic generation

The numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation for vibrating hydrogen molecular ions in many-cycle laser pulses shows that high-order harmonic generation is sensitive to laser-induced molecular vibrations. In particular, the odd harmonic lines in the emitted spectra are surrounded by additional regular peaks whose spacing is given by the vibrational frequency of the nuclei motion. Analytical theory relates these satellite peaks to the molecular vibrations in terms of an approximated effective potentials. These results are not affected by the dimensionality of the system.

Ionization dynamics of a model molecular ion

We study the ionization dynamics of a model one-dimensional molecular ion as a function of the internuclear distance R, for different values of the laser intensity. The electron–nucleus potential is assumed to be a Poschl–Teller potential, whose parameters are chosen to have only two bare bound molecular states in the range of R considered. We describe three different theoretical approaches to study the dynamics of the system: an exact numerical, a semiperturbative and a phenomenological approach. All these approaches indicate the presence of a sharp ionization peak for a critical value of the internuclear distance, for which the energy difference between the two bound levels coincides with the laser photon energy. The results obtained are explained and a new model of molecular ionization in intense laser field is presented.

Graphene in strong laser field: experiment and theory

The interaction of graphene nanoparticles and strong 64 fs pulses is examined. We demonstrate high-order harmonic generation in the plasma contained in crumpled sheets of graphene. The morphological studies of the debris of ablated graphene, application of single-color and two-color pumps of graphene-containing plasma, and theoretical consideration of the high-order harmonic generation in this medium are presented.

Even harmonics from laser driven homonuclear molecules

The dynamics of a homonuclear diatomic molecule driven by a laser pulse is obtained beyond the fixed nuclei approximation. Laser parameters can be adjusted to confine the electron over one of the two nuclei for a relatively long time or not. A time-resolved analysis of the electromagnetic spectrum emitted by the molecule presents the usual odd harmonics far from confinement and even harmonics during the confinement periods. A physical interpretation of the results is given.

The electron wavefunction in laser-assisted bremsstrahlung

The active region for emission of radiation by an electron driven by a strong laser field in the proximity of a stationary scattering centre is localized in space and time. It is argued that the extension of this region can be controlled by changing the velocity of the electron, and that information on this extension is contained in the duration and in the spectrum of the emitted radiation pulse.

The role of hyper-Raman transitions in the radiation spectrum of a strongly driven two-level atom

Abstract Numerical results are presented on the spectrum of the light scattered into the vacuum modes by a two-level atom driven by a strong ramped field of frequency smaller than the natural atomic frequency. The attention is focused on the role of the hyper-Raman part of the spectrum, which is shown to decrease dramatically with increasing ramp time. It is suggested that this may explain lack of experimental observation of the hyper-Raman lines. For zero ramp time, the numerical intensity of both high-order harmonics and hyper-Raman peaks is shown to agree satisfactorily with previous analytical predictions except in the region of overlap of the two series of peaks. This lends support for the suggestion that the plateau in the spectrum is related to quantum-mechanical interference between high-order harmonics and hyper-Raman processes. There is also good agreement between the numerical amplitude of the plateau and previous analytical predictions. A physical mechanism for the cut-off frequency which term...

Nuclear molecular dynamics investigated by using high-order harmonic generation spectra

In this paper we show how it is possible to investigate the nuclear dynamics of simple molecular ions and molecules by looking at the high-order harmonic generation spectra they emit in the presence of a laser field. In particular we investigate two different effects: the presence of sidebands in the emitted spectra around the usual odd harmonics and an isotopic effect which affects the height of the plateau lines. We further study the advantages and the limitations of the semiclassical approach.