Isolated attosecond pulses from laser-driven synchrotron radiation.
A quantitative theory of attosecond pulse generation in relativistically driven overdense plasma slabs is presented based on an explicit analysis of synchrotron-type electron trajectories. The subcycle, field-controlled release, and subsequent nanometer-scale acceleration of relativistic electron bunches under the combined action of the laser and ionic potentials give rise to coherent radiation with a high-frequency cutoff, intensity, and radiation pattern explained in terms of the basic laws of synchrotron radiation. The emerging radiation is confined to time intervals much shorter than the half-cycle of the driver field. This intuitive approach will be instrumental in analyzing and optimizing few-cycle-laser-driven relativistic sources of intense isolated extreme ultraviolet and x-ray pulses.
Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, 85748 Garching, Germany.
J M
JM
Mikhailova
M V
MV
Fedorov
N
N
Karpowicz
P
P
Gibbon
V T
VT
Platonenko
A M
AM
Zheltikov
F
F
Krausz