Extreme ultraviolet vector beams driven by infrared lasers

Vector beams, beams with a non-uniform state of polarization, have become an indispensable tool in many areas of science and technology. Harnessing topological light properties paves the way to control and manipulate light–matter interactions at different levels, from the quantum to macroscopic phys...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Hernández García, Carlos, Turpin, Alex, San Román Álvarez de Lara, Julio, Picón, Antonio, Drevinskas, Rokas, Cerkauskaite, Ausra, Kazansky, Peter G., Durfee, Charles G., Sola Larrañaga, Iñigo Juan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repositorio:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/146632
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/146632
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Azimuthally polarized beams
Cylindrical vector beams
Light matter interactionss
Light properties
Spatial light modulators
Vector beams
Descripción
Sumario:Vector beams, beams with a non-uniform state of polarization, have become an indispensable tool in many areas of science and technology. Harnessing topological light properties paves the way to control and manipulate light–matter interactions at different levels, from the quantum to macroscopic physics. Here we generate tabletop extreme ultraviolet (EUV) vector beams driven by high-order harmonic generation (HHG). Our experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that HHG imprints the polarization state of the fundamental (infrared) beam, ranging from radial to azimuthal, into the higher frequency radiation. Our numerical simulations also demonstrate that the generated high-order harmonic beams can be synthesized into attosecond vector beams in the EUV/soft x-ray regime. Our proposal overcomes the state-of-the-art-limitations for the generation of vector beams far from the visible domain and could be applied in fields such as diffractive imaging, EUV lithography, or ultrafast control of magnetic properties.