UV-induced resonant excitations of electrons near the Brillouin zone boundary in solid high harmonic generation

Abstract

Abstract We propose a novel mechanism to manipulate the electron dynamics at the boundary of the Brillouin zone (BZ) through resonant excitation induced by ultraviolet (UV) laser pulses in solid high harmonic generation (HHG). When adding weak UV pulses to a stronger mid-infrared (MIR) driving field, we show that UV pulses with specific wavelengths generate a resonant excitation zone around the Γ point in k − space, which facilitates the interband transition of electrons in the BZ boundary region. The scheme is not only significant for achieving higher harmonic yield, but also exhibits strong robustness at a relatively low MIR driving intensity due to the inherent manipulation of UV pulses for interband dynamics of BZ boundary electrons. The semiclassical four-step model is adopted to elucidate underlying physics.