High-order harmonic analysis of anisotropic petahertz photocurrents in solids

Opt Lett. 2019 Apr 15;44(8):1888-1891. doi: 10.1364/OL.44.001888.

Abstract

Polarization maps of high-order harmonics are shown to enable a full vectorial characterization of petahertz electron currents generated in a crystalline solid by an ultrashort laser driver. As a powerful resource of this methodology, analysis of energy-momentum dispersion landscapes, defined by the electron band structure, can help identify, as our analysis shows, special directions within the Brillouin zone that can provide a preferable basis for polarization-sensitive high-harmonic mapping of anisotropic petahertz photocurrents in solids.