Abstract

An ultra-low pump intensity and high photon flux have been long pursuits of high harmonic generation (HHG) in solids. However, there is lack of a criterion to identify a pristine solid material exhibiting such characteristics. Here, we report systematic investigation into HHG from a cadmium telluride (CdTe) bulk crystal with a flat band dispersion near the Fermi level which leads to a large density of states. The measured pump intensity for the 31st harmonics (229 nm) is only 75 GW/cm2, one order of magnitude lower than that of other pristine crystals including two-dimensional materials reported so far. A comparative measurement shows CdTe has two-to-three orders of magnitude stronger HHG than silicon does, and high HHG yields in the ultraviolet region compared to GaSe. A high photon flux of ~ 6 × 1012 photons/s (5th−8th) with a robust long-time sustainability is obtained. This work offers a route towards compact vacuum ultraviolet laser sources.

Efficient high harmonic generation (HHG) in solids is instrumental for devising applications in XUV spectroscopy, attosecond science and coherent diffraction imaging. Through a systematic experimental comparison, the authors individuate CdTe as the ideal candidate for generating high harmonics with ultra-low pump intensity and high photon flux.

Details

Title
High-harmonic generation in CdTe with ultra-low pump intensity and high photon flux
Author
Long, Zhe 1 ; Yang, Hang 1 ; Tian, Kan 1 ; He, Linzhen 1 ; Qin, Rui 2 ; Chen, Zi-Yu 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Wang, Qi Jie 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Liang, Houkun 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Sichuan University, School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Chengdu, China (GRID:grid.13291.38) (ISNI:0000 0001 0807 1581) 
2  China Academy of Engineering Physics, National Key Laboratory of Shock Wave and Detonation Physics, Institute of Fluid Physics, Mianyang, China (GRID:grid.249079.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 0369 4132) 
3  Sichuan University, Key Laboratory of High Energy Density Physics and Technology (MoE), College of Physics, Chengdu, China (GRID:grid.13291.38) (ISNI:0000 0001 0807 1581) 
4  Nanyang Technological University, School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering & The Photonics Institute, Singapore, Singapore (GRID:grid.59025.3b) (ISNI:0000 0001 2224 0361) 
Pages
228
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
23993650
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-023-01354-2
ProQuest document ID
2857164962
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.