Quasi-phase-matching of resonance-enhanced high-order harmonics in laser plasmas

Opt Express. 2023 Dec 18;31(26):43748-43763. doi: 10.1364/OE.502847.

Abstract

The resonance-enhanced harmonics in laser-induced arsenic and selenium plasmas are studied at the quasi-phase-matching (QPM) conditions. We demonstrate that the enhancement of these harmonics was significantly smaller than the one of the neighboring harmonics. Though the enhancement factors of the harmonics in the vicinity of resonance-enhanced harmonics were in the range of 5× to 18×, the resonance-enhanced harmonics were almost unenhanced at QPM conditions. The most probable reason for such restriction in the enhancement of specific harmonics at the conditions of QPM was a stronger influence of free electrons on the phase-matching conditions of the resonance-enhanced single harmonic compared to the QPM-enhanced group of harmonics.