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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Unravelling the dynamical origin of below- and near-threshold harmonic generation of H 2 + in an intense NIR laser field

Recently, the study of near- and below- threshold regime harmonics as a potential source of intense coherent vacuum-ultraviolet radiation has received considerable attention. However, the dynamical origin of these lower harmonics, particularly for the molecular systems, is less understood and largely unexplored. Here we perform the first fully ab initio and high precision 3D quantum study of the below- and near-threshold harmonic generation of H 2 + molecules in an intense 800-nm near-infrared (NIR) laser field. Furthermore, combining with a synchrosqueezing transform of the quantum time-frequency spectrum and an extended semiclassical analysis, we explore in-depth the roles of various quantum trajectories, including short- and long trajectories, multiphoton trajectories, resonance-enhanced trajectories, and multiple rescattering trajectories of the below- and near- threshold harmonic generation processes. Our results shed new light on the dynamical origin of the below- and near-threshold harmonic generation and various quantum trajectories for diatomic molecules for the first time.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Study on higher harmonic suppression using edge filter and polished Si wafer

Higher harmonics contamination is a severe problem in synchrotron beamlines where grating monochromators are used. In these beamlines, absorption edge filters and critical angle mirrors are used to suppress the harmonic contaminations. In the present study, carried out using Indus-1 reflectivity beamline, a harmonic suppression characteristic of Al edge filter and polished silicon wafer are determined. It is found that the Al filter suppresses higher harmonics in 2–7% range whereas the polished silicon wafer can suppress the higher harmonics below 1%. The results of comparative study are discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Resonant second harmonic generation in a gallium nitride two-dimensional photonic crystal on silicon

We demonstrate second harmonic generation in a gallium nitride photonic crystal cavity embedded in a two-dimensional free-standing photonic crystal platform on silicon. The photonic crystal nanocavity is optically pumped with a continuous-wave laser at telecom wavelengths in the transparency window of the nitride material. The harmonic generation is evidenced by the spectral range of the emitted signal, the quadratic power dependence vs. input power, and the spectral dependence of second harmonic signal. The harmonic emission pattern is correlated to the harmonic polarization generated by the second-order nonlinear susceptibilities χ{sub zxx}{sup (2)}, χ{sub zyy}{sup (2)} and the electric fields of the fundamental cavity mode.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Harmonic generation by circularly polarized laser beams propagating in plasma

An analytical theory is developed for studying the phenomenon of generation of harmonics by the propagation of an obliquely incident, circularly polarized laser beam in homogeneous, underdense plasma. The amplitudes of second and third harmonic radiation as well as detuning distance have been obtained and their variation with the angle of incidence is analyzed. The amplitude of harmonic radiation increases with the angle of incidence while the detuning distance decreases, for a given plasma electron density. It is observed that the generated second and third harmonic radiation is linearly and elliptically polarized, respectively. The harmonic radiation vanishes at normal incidence of the circularly polarized laser beam.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Efficient second- and third-harmonic radiation generation from relativistic laser-plasma interactions

We propose an idea to enhance the efficiency of second- and third-harmonic generation by considering the amplitude-modulation of the fundamental laser pulse. A short-pulse laser of finite spot size is modeled as amplitude modulated in time. Amplitude-modulation of fundamental laser contributes in quiver velocity of the plasma electrons and produces the strong plasma-density perturbations, thereby increase in current density at second- and third-harmonic frequency. In a result, the conversion efficiency of harmonic generation increases significantly. Power conversion efficiency of harmonic generation process is the increasing function of the amplitude-modulation parameter of the fundamental laser beam. Harmonic power generated by an amplitude modulated laser is many folds higher than the power obtained in an ordinary case.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Raman parametric excitation effect upon the third harmonic generation by a metallic nanoparticle lattice

This work is a theoretical study on third harmonic generation in the nonlinear propagation of an intense laser pulse through a periodic three-dimensional lattice of nanoparticles. Using a perturbative method, the nonlinear equations that describe the laser–nanoparticle interaction in the weakly relativistic regime are derived. Additionally, the nonlinear dispersion relation and the amplitude of the third harmonic are obtained. Finally, the effects of the nanoparticle radius and separation length, the distribution of the nanoparticle electron density, and the laser frequency upon the third harmonic efficiency are investigated. In addition to the expected resonance that occurs when the third harmonic resonates with the plasmon wave, another resonance appears when the nonlinear interaction of the fundamental mode with the third harmonic excites a longitudinal collective plasmon wave via the parametric Raman mechanism.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Second-harmonic generation in shear wave beams with different polarizations

A coupled pair of nonlinear parabolic equations was derived by Zabolotskaya [1] that model the transverse components of the particle motion in a collimated shear wave beam propagating in an isotropic elastic solid. Like the KZK equation, the parabolic equation for shear wave beams accounts consistently for the leading order effects of diffraction, viscosity and nonlinearity. The nonlinearity includes a cubic nonlinear term that is equivalent to that present in plane shear waves, as well as a quadratic nonlinear term that is unique to diffracting beams. The work by Wochner et al. [2] considered shear wave beams with translational polarizations (linear, circular and elliptical), wherein second-order nonlinear effects vanish and the leading order nonlinear effect is third-harmonic generation by the cubic nonlinearity. The purpose of the current work is to investigate the quadratic nonlinear term present in the parabolic equation for shear wave beams by considering second-harmonic generation in Gaussian beams as a second-order nonlinear effect using standard perturbation theory. In order for second-order nonlinear effects to be present, a broader class of source polarizations must be considered that includes not only the familiar translational polarizations, but also polarizations accounting for stretching, shearing and rotation of the source plane. It is found that the polarization of the second harmonic generated by the quadratic nonlinearity is not necessarily the same as the polarization of the source-frequency beam, and we are able to derive a general analytic solution for second-harmonic generation from a Gaussian source condition that gives explicitly the relationship between the polarization of the source-frequency beam and the polarization of the second harmonic.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Harmonic growth of spherical Rayleigh-Taylor instability in weakly nonlinear regime

Harmonic growth in classical Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) on a spherical interface is analytically investigated using the method of the parameter expansion up to the third order. Our results show that the amplitudes of the first four harmonics will recover those in planar RTI as the interface radius tends to infinity compared against the initial perturbation wavelength. The initial radius dramatically influences the harmonic development. The appearance of the second-order feedback to the initial unperturbed interface (i.e., the zeroth harmonic) makes the interface move towards the spherical center. For these four harmonics, the smaller the initial radius is, the faster they grow.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Design and optimization of a harmonic probe with step cross section in multifrequency atomic force microscopy

In multifrequency atomic force microscopy (AFM), probe’s characteristic of assigning resonance frequencies to integer harmonics results in a remarkable improvement of detection sensitivity at specific harmonic components. The selection criterion of harmonic order is based on its amplitude’s sensitivity on material properties, e.g., elasticity. Previous studies on designing harmonic probe are unable to provide a large design capability along with maintaining the structural integrity. Herein, we propose a harmonic probe with step cross section, in which it has variable width in top and bottom steps, while the middle step in cross section is kept constant. Higher order resonance frequencies are tailored to be integer times of fundamental resonance frequency. The probe design is implemented within a structural optimization framework. The optimally designed probe is micromachined using focused ion beam milling technique, and then measured with an AFM. The measurement results agree well with our resonance frequency assignment requirement.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Third harmonic generation in air ambient and laser ablated carbon plasma

We report the third harmonic generation of a nanosecond laser pulse (1.06 μm) in air ambient and in the presence of nanoparticles from laser ablated carbon plasma. Significant decrease in the threshold of third harmonic generation and multi-fold increment in the intensity of generated third harmonic is observed in presence of carbon plasma. The third harmonic in air is due to the quasi-resonant four photon process involving vibrationally excited states of molecular ion of nitrogen due to electron impact ionization and laser pulse. Following optical emission spectroscopic observations we conclude that the presence of C{sub 2} and CN in the ablated plume play a vital role in the observed third harmonic signals.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Low-voltage harmonic multiplying gyrotron traveling-wave amplifier in G band

Harmonic multiplying operation in a gyrotron traveling-wave amplifier (gyro-TWA) permits for magnetic field reduction and frequency multiplication. Lowering a beam voltage is an important step toward miniaturization of a harmonic multiplying gyro-TWA. However, the additional degree of freedom that is provided by the multitude cyclotron harmonics in a low-voltage harmonic multiplying gyro-TWA still easily generates various competing modes. An improved mode-selective circuit, using circular waveguides with various radii, can provide the rejection points within the frequency range to suppress competing modes. Simulated results reveal that the mode-selective circuit can provide an attenuation of more than 14 dB to suppress the competing modes. Furthermore, the performance of the gyro-TWA is analyzed for studying the sensitivity of the saturated output power and full width at half maximum bandwidth of the gyro-TWA to the beam voltage and the magnetic field. A stable low-voltage harmonic multiplying gyro-TWA with the mode-selective circuit is predicted to yield a peak output power of 24 kW at 200.4 GHz, corresponding to a saturated gain of 56 dB at an interaction efficiency of 20%. The full width at half maximum bandwidth is 3.0 GHz.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Anomalous ellipticity dependence of the generation of near-threshold harmonics in noble gases

We measured the ellipticity dependence of the harmonic yield of He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe. It is found that the harmonic yield in general decreases monotonically with increasing laser ellipticity but anomalous dependence does occur for each atom for some harmonic orders. Additionally, we found that the degree of anomaly is weakest in helium but is stronger for the heavier atoms. The anomaly also depends on laser intensity. To explain these features, we developed a quantum trajectory Monte Carlo (QTMC) model based on the quantum path integral theory to study high-order harmonic generation (HHG). The model includes the effect of Coulomb potential from the target ion, thus it is capable of calculating near-threshold harmonics quantitatively. This model reveals that the presence of Coulomb potential would generate orbiting trajectories which are responsible for the anomalous ellipticity dependence near the threshold.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Spatially coherent high-order harmonics generated at optimal high gas pressure with high-intensity one- or two-color laser pulses

Here, we investigate the gas-pressure dependence of macroscopic harmonic spectra generated in a high-ionization medium using intense 800-nm laser pulses. The harmonics obtained at the optimal pressure show good spatial coherence with small divergence (less than 2 mrad) in the far field. By analyzing the evolution of the laser's electric field as it propagates, we find that dynamic phase matching conditions are fulfilled in the second half of the gas cell and that harmonic yields do not depend on the position of the gas cell with respect to the focusing position. We also demonstrate that harmonic yields at the optimal pressure can be further enhanced by increasing input laser energy or by adding a few percent of second or third harmonic to the fundamental.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Density- and wavefunction-normalized Cartesian spherical harmonics for l ≤ 20

The widely used pseudoatom formalism in experimental X-ray charge-density studies makes use of real spherical harmonics when describing the angular component of aspherical deformations of the atomic electron density in molecules and crystals. The analytical form of the density-normalized Cartesian spherical harmonic functions for up to l ≤ 7 and the corresponding normalization coefficients were reported previously by Paturle & Coppens. It was shown that the analytical form for normalization coefficients is available primarily for l ≤ 4. Only in very special cases it is possible to derive an analytical representation of the normalization coefficients for 4 < l ≤ 7. In most cases for l > 4 the density normalization coefficients were calculated numerically to within seven significant figures. In this study we review the literature on the density-normalized spherical harmonics, clarify the existing notations, use the Paturle–Coppens method in the Wolfram Mathematica software to derive the Cartesian spherical harmonics for l ≤ 20 and determine the density normalization coefficients to 35 significant figures, and computer-generate a Fortran90 code. The article primarily targets researchers who work in the field of experimental X-ray electron density, but may be of some use to all who are interested in Cartesian spherical harmonics.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Generation of lower and upper bands of electrostatic electron cyclotron harmonic waves in the Van Allen radiation belts

Electrostatic electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) waves generated by the electron loss cone distribution can produce efficient scattering loss of plasma sheet electrons, which has a significant effect on the dynamics in the outer magnetosphere. Here we report two ECH emission events around the same location L ≈ 5.7–5.8, MLT ≈ 12 from Van Allen Probes on 11 February (event A) and 9 January 2014 (event B), respectively. The spectrum of ECH waves was centered at the lower half of the harmonic bands during event A, but the upper half during event B. The observed electron phase space density in both events is fitted by the subtracted bi-Maxwellian distribution, and the fitting functions are used to evaluate the local growth rates of ECH waves based on a linear theory for homogeneous plasmas. ECH waves are excited by the loss cone instability of 50 eV–1 keV electrons in the lower half of harmonic bands in the low-density plasmasphere in event A, and 1–10 keV electrons in the upper half of harmonic bands in a relatively high-density region in event B. Here, the current results successfully explain observations and provide a first direct evidence on how ECH waves are generated in the lower and upper half of harmonic frequency bands.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Theoretical Study of High Harmonic Generation in Monolayer NbSe 2

High harmonic generation (HHG) is a powerful probe of electron dynamics on attosecond to femtosecond time scales and has been successfully used to detect electronic and structural changes in solid-state quantum materials, including transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). Among TMDs, bulk NbSe 2 exhibits charge density wave (CDW) order below 33 K and becomes superconducting below 7.3 K. Monolayer NbSe 2 also has superconducting and CDW behavior and is therefore interesting as a material whose different structural and electronic properties could be probed via HHG. Here, we predict the HHG response of the pristine 2H and CDW phases of monolayer NbSe 2 using real-time time-dependent density functional theory under the application of a simulated laser pulse excitation. We find that due to the lack of inversion symmetry in both monolayer phases, it is possible to excite even harmonics and that the even harmonics appear as the transverse components of the current response under excitations polarized along the zigzag direction of the monolayer, while odd harmonics arise from the longitudinal current response in all excitation directions. This suggests that the even and odd harmonic responses can be controlled via the polarization of the probing field, opening an avenue for potentially useful applications in optoelectronic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Enhanced high-harmonic generation from an all-dielectric metasurface

The recent observation of high-harmonic generation from solids creates a new possibility for engineering fundamental strong-field processes by patterning the solid target with subwavelength nanostructures. All-dielectric metasurfaces exhibit high damage thresholds and strong enhancement of the driving field, making them attractive platforms to control high harmonics and other high-field processes at the nanoscale. Here we report enhanced non-perturbative high-harmonic emission from a Fano-resonant Si metasurface that possesses a classical analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency. The harmonic emission is enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude compared to unpatterned samples. The enhanced high harmonics are highly anisotropic with respect to the excitation polarization and are selective by the excitation wavelength due to its resonant features. Furthermore, by combining nanofabrication technology and ultrafast strong-field physics, our work paves the way for the design of new compact ultrafast photonic devices that operate under high intensities and at short wavelengths.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Route to optimal generation of soft X-ray high harmonics with synthesized two-color laser pulses

High harmonics extending to X-rays have been generated from gases by intense lasers. To establish these coherent broadband radiations as an all-purpose tabletop light source for general applications in science and technology, new methods are needed to overcome the present low conversion efficiencies. Here we show that the conversion efficiency may be drastically increased with an optimized two-color pulse. By employing an optimally synthesized 2-mm mid-infrared laser and a small amount of its third harmonic, we show that harmonic yields from sub- to few-keV energy can be increased typically by ten-fold over the optimized single-color one. By combining with favorable phase-matching and together with the emerging high-repetition MHz mid-infrared lasers, we anticipate efficiency of harmonic yields can be increased by four to five orders in the near future, thus paving the way for employing high harmonics as useful broadband tabletop light sources from the extreme ultraviolet to the X-rays, as well as providing new tools for interrogating ultrafast dynamics of matter at attosecond timescales.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗