Efficient high-order harmonics generation from overdense plasma irradiated by a two-color co-rotating circularly polarized laser pulse

Abstract

High-order harmonics generated from the interaction between a two-color circularly polarized laser and overdense plasma is proposed analytically and investigated numerically. By mixing two circularly polarized lasers rotating in the same direction with different frequencies (ω0, 2ω0), the laser envelope is modulated to oscillate at the laser fundamental frequency while the peak intensity of each cycle becomes greater than that of the monochromatic light. This feature makes the plasma oscillate more violently and frequently under the striking of the two-color laser than the monochromatic one, thereby generating stronger harmonics and attosecond pulses. In addition, the incorporation of the 2ω0 light greatly expands the spectral width of harmonics, which facilitates the production of shorter attosecond pulses. Particle-in-cell simulations prove that under the same condition, the harmonic radiation efficiency in the two-color laser case can be improved by orders of magnitude, and isolated attosecond pulses can be even generated as a bonus in some cases.