Evidence of depolarization and ellipticity of high harmonics driven by ultrashort bichromatic circularly polarized fields

Lou Barreau, Kévin Veyrinas, Vincent Gruson, Sébastien J. Weber, Thierry Auguste, Jean-François Hergott, Fabien Lepetit, Bertrand Carré, Jean-Christophe Houver, Danielle Dowek () and Pascal Salières ()
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Lou Barreau: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay
Kévin Veyrinas: CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay
Vincent Gruson: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay
Sébastien J. Weber: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay
Thierry Auguste: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay
Jean-François Hergott: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay
Fabien Lepetit: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay
Bertrand Carré: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay
Jean-Christophe Houver: CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay
Danielle Dowek: CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay
Pascal Salières: Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Saclay

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract High harmonics generated by counter-rotating laser fields at the fundamental and second harmonic frequencies have raised important interest as a table-top source of circularly polarized ultrashort extreme-ultraviolet light. However, this emission has not yet been fully characterized: in particular it was assumed to be fully polarized, leading to an uncertainty on the effective harmonic ellipticity. Here we show, through simulations, that ultrashort driving fields and ultrafast medium ionization lead to a breaking of the dynamical symmetry of the interaction, and consequently to deviations from perfectly circular and fully polarized harmonics, already at the single-atom level. We perform the complete experimental characterization of the polarization state of high harmonics generated along that scheme, giving direct access to the ellipticity absolute value and sign, as well as the degree of polarization of individual harmonic orders. This study allows defining optimal generation conditions of fully circularly polarized harmonics for advanced studies of ultrafast dichroisms.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07151-8

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