High order harmonic generation with high photon flux in the water window spectral region by the guided wave technique using a 2 µm OPCPA laser system

• Grant number: 12/22102-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: April 01, 2013
• End date: March 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Atomic and Molecular Physics
• Principal Investigator: Cleber Renato Mendonça
• Grantee: Jonathas de Paula Siqueira
• Supervisor: Franz X. Kärtner
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/03513-6 - Ultra-fast optical spectroscopy applied to photo-chemical reactions., BP.PD

Abstract

The main objective of the proposed project for the research internship abroad, is the implementation of the phase matched high order harmonic generation by the guided wave technique using ultrashort laser pulses in the mid infrared with extreme peak intensities for obtaining high-flux coherent radiation covering the soft X-ray spectral region called "water window" (280-530 eV). This implementation consists of the use of a laser system recently developed based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification technology (Optical Parametric Chirped Pulse Amplification - OPCPA) operating at 2.1 microm wavelength at a repetition rate of 1 kHz for generating high harmonics using the technique of phase matched frequency conversion by guidance in capillary filled with noble gas. The generation of high harmonics in the soft X-ray spectral region through the guided wave technique using mid-infrared laser pulses at repetition rates in the kHz range, is a current technological challenge in the nonlinear optics field. The implementation proposed in this project will allow, in principle, to obtain an increase of about two orders of magnitude compared to the higher photon flux in the water window spectral region reported in the literature. The continuous improvement of the photon flux of coherent radiation sources in the water window spectral region, based on the high order harmonic generation process, is part of a significant effort toward the development of laboratory scale coherent light sources in short wavelengths. These compact sources will allow, in the near future, the availability of soft X-ray microscopes on individual research groups. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

STEIN, GREGORY J.; KEATHLEY, PHILLIP D.; KROGEN, PETER; LIANG, HOUKUN; SIQUEIRA, JONATHAS P.; CHANG, CHUN-LIN; LAI, CHIEN-JEN; HONG, KYUNG-HAN; LAURENT, GUILLAUME M.; KAERTNER, FRANZ X.. Water-window soft x-ray high-harmonic generation up to the nitrogen K-edge driven by a kHz, 2.1 mu m OPCPA source. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS B-ATOMIC MOLECULAR AND OPTICAL PHYSICS, v. 49, n. 15, AUG 14 2016. (12/22102-7)