Extreme-ultraviolet vector-vortex beams from high harmonic generation

[EN]Structured light in the short-wavelength regime opens exciting avenues for the study of ultrafast spin and electronic dynamics. Here, we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally the generation of vector-vortex beams (VVB) in the extreme ultraviolet through high-order harmonic generation (HHG...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Heras, Alba de las, Pandey, Alok Kumar, San Román Álvarez de Lara, Julio, Serrano, Javier, Baynard, Elsa, Dovillaire, Guillaume, Pittman, Moana, Durfee, Charles G., Plaja Rustein, Luis, Kazamias, Sophie, Guilbaud, Olivier, Hernández García, Carlos
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repositorio:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/148315
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/148315
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Azimuthally polarized beams
Beam structure
Light beams
Light matter interactions
Light properties
Vector beams
Descripción
Sumario:[EN]Structured light in the short-wavelength regime opens exciting avenues for the study of ultrafast spin and electronic dynamics. Here, we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally the generation of vector-vortex beams (VVB) in the extreme ultraviolet through high-order harmonic generation (HHG). The up-conversion of VVB, which are spatially tailored in their spin and orbital angular momentum, is ruled by the conservation of the topological Pancharatnam charge in HHG. Despite the complex propagation of the driving beam, high-harmonic VVB are robustly generated with smooth propagation properties. Remarkably, we find out that the conversion efficiency of high-harmonic VVB increases with the driving topological charge. Our work opens the possibility to synthesize attosecond helical structures with spatially varying polarization, a unique tool to probe spatiotemporal dynamics in inhomogeneous media or polarization-dependent systems.