title: Mid-infrared modulated polarization gating for ultra-broadband supercontinuum generation.
abstract: We propose a method to control the harmonic process by a mid-IR modulated polarization gating for the effective generation of an ultra-broadband supercontinuum in the neutral rare-gas media. Using a mid-IR polarization gating pulse modulated by a weaker 800-nm linearly polarized pulse, the ionization, acceleration and recombination steps in the harmonic process are simultaneously controlled, leading to the efficient generation of an ultra-broadband supercontinuum covered by the spectral range from ultraviolet to water window x ray under the low ionization rate. The right phase-matching technique is employed to macroscopically select the short quantum path of the supercontinuum, then isolated sub-100-as pulses with tunable wavelengths are directly obtained. This supercontinuum also supports the pulse duration far below one atomic unit of time.
authors.affiliation: 1Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, PR China.
authors.forename: Weiyi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Qingbin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shaoyi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Peixiang
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007259:Infrared Rays; D008029:Lighting / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*