Abstract

By means of a particle-in-cell simulation we study the effect of time-dependent tunneling ionization in the harmonics generated during the formation of a plasma when a laser field impinges on a solid slab. The comparison of our results with preionized plasma calculations and with a simple propagation model, in which the dynamics of ionized charges is neglected, shows the crucial role of the ionization even when the ionization time is a relatively small fraction of the pulse duration. The mechanism for which the harmonics are generated owing to ionization is investigated by means of a moving-mirror model extended to take into account the time-dependent reflectivity.

© 1999 Optical Society of America

Generation of attosecond pulse trains during the reflection of a very intense laser on a solid surface

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Atomic hydrogen irradiated by a strong laser field: Sturmian basis calculations of rates for high-order multiphoton ionization, Raman scattering, and harmonic generation

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Effect of time-dependent ionization on the harmonics generated by bound–bound transitions

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Higher-order harmonic generation and strong field ionization with Bessel–Gauss beams in a thin jet geometry

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