Abstract-A case study for terahertz-assisted single attosecond pulse generation

arXiv:1402.3120 (February 2014) A case study for terahertz-assisted single attosecond pulse generation Emeric Balogh, Katalin Kovács, Valer Tosa and Katalin Varjú Department of Optics and Quantum Electronics, University of Szeged, Dóm tér 9, Szeged, HU-6701, Hungary National Institute for R&D of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, Str. Donath 65-103, Cluj-Napoca, RO-400293, Romania Received. 13 February 2014  Last updated. 13 February 2014 Abstract. We numerically investigate the use of strong THz radiation in assisting single attosecond pulse generation by few-cycle, 800 nm laser pulses. We optimize focusing conditions to generate short and powerful single attosecond pulses of high-energy photons by keeping the parameters of the THz field within the limits achieved experimentally. We show that using optimal focusing geometry isolated attosecond pulses shorter than 100 as can be obtained even in the absence of further gating or XUV compression techniques, using an 8 fs generating pulse. Furthermore, quantum path control of short- and long-trajectory components is demonstrated by varying the delay between the THz and IR pulses.