High-harmonic generation from a flat liquid-sheet plasma mirror

Abstract

<p>High-harmonic radiation can be generated when an ultra-intense laser beam is reflected from an over-dense plasma, known as a plasma mirror. It is considered a promising technique for generating intense attosecond pulses in the extreme ultraviolet and X-ray wavelength ranges. However, a solid target used for the formation of the over-dense plasma is completely damaged by the interaction. Thus, it is challenging to use a solid target for applications such as time-resolved studies and attosecond streaking experiments that require a large amount of data. Here we demonstrate that high-harmonic radiation can be continuously generated from a liquid plasma mirror in both the coherent wake emission and relativistic oscillating mirror regimes. These results will pave the way for the development of bright, stable, and high-repetition-rate attosecond light sources, which can greatly benefit the study of ultrafast laser-matter interactions.</p><p>High-harmonic generation (HHG) is a nonlinear process and has been explored with different forms of plasma target. Here the authors report HHG using a liquid plasma mirror as a possible way for the generation of stable and intense attosecond pulses at a high-repetition rate.</p>