High Harmonics Generation in the Strongly-Driven Solids (STRODS) Regime Using Time-Varying Metasurfaces
Abstract
Interaction of intense laser pulses with metasurfaces is of great scientific and technological interest because it enables us to concentrate enormous amounts of optical energy inside sub-micron regions – the hot spots – that can serve as tiny sources of coherent radiation produced by dense quantum plasmas. Such radiation produced via high-harmonics generation (HHG) will fuel applications requiring compact bright sources of tunable light across the electromagnetic spectrum. Moreover, such radiation can act as a non-perturbing diagnostic for complex irreversible processes- non-thermal heating and melting, explosive boiling, and electrostatic explosion. Those provide the basis for laser patterning and nanomachining. Building upon Shvets’ group’s expertise, proposed is a theoretical-computational three-pronged program for investigating Metasurface-enhanced Ultra-intense Laser-solid Interactions (MULIs). Thrust 1- To identify the appropriate semiconductors and dielectric for enabling the MULIs. This effort will adapt sophisticated semi-classical particle-tracking and particle-in-cell (PIC) codes to the complexity of crystalline material, implement novel multi-photon and tunneling techniques to describe electron-hole generation in nanoscale volumes, and identify several material candidates that are suitable for producing spatially-localized strongly driven solids (STRODS). Thrust 2- To develop analytic and computational tools for modeling HHG under non-perturbative laser illumination of Time-Varying Metasurfaces (TVMs). The resulting fluid and kinetic tools will enable us to describe laser-driven HHG using the semi-classical framework. Using the TVM concept, we will optimize laser pulse formats for the most efficient HHG in the STRODS regime. Thrust 3- To analyze and interpret the existing experimental data collected by our group using the tools developed in Thrust 2. The collected data include- (a) HHG (odd and even- up to the 9th harmonic) from a GaP-based metasurface; (b) laser nanomachining of pre-fabricated nanostructures. We will apply our semi-classical HHG models to (a), and investigate the possibility of using HHG as a diagnostic of irreversible laser-nanostructure interactions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 07, 2023
- Source ID
- FA95502110421
Entities
People
- Gennady Shvets
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Cornell University
- United States Air Force