Tuning the Ellipticity of High-Order Harmonics from Helium in Orthogonal Two-Color Laser Fields

High-order harmonic generation in atomic systems driven by laser fields with tailored symmetries provides a powerful approach for producing structured ultrafast light sources. In this work, we theoretically investigate the ellipticity control of high-order harmonics emitted from helium atoms exposed to orthogonally polarized two-color laser pulses with a 1:3 frequency ratio. The polarization properties of the harmonics are governed by the interplay between the spatial symmetry of the driving field and the atomic potential. By numerically solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, we show that fine-tuning the relative phase and amplitude ratio between the fundamental and third-harmonic components enables selective symmetry breaking, resulting in the emission of elliptically and circularly polarized harmonics. Remarkably, we achieve near-perfect circular polarization (ellipticity ≈ 0.995) for the 5th harmonic, as well as highly circularly polarized 17th (0.945), 21st (0.96), and 23rd (0.935) harmonics, demonstrating a level of polarization control and efficiency that exceeds previous schemes. Our results highlight the advantage of using a 1:3 frequency ratio orthogonally polarized two-color laser field over the conventional 1:2 configuration, offering a promising route toward tunable attosecond light sources with tailored polarization characteristics.

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Publication Details

Journal
Symmetry
Published
2025-06-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/sym17060967
Primary Topic
Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Tuning the Ellipticity of High-Order Harmonics from Helium in Orthogonal Two-Color Laser Fields

Yue Qiao, Shushan Zhou, Nan Xu, Yujun Yang et al.
Symmetry
Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications
article

Tuning the Ellipticity of High-Order Harmonics from Helium in Orthogonal Two-Color Laser Fields

Yue Qiao, Shushan Zhou, Nan Xu, Yujun Yang, Hao Wang, Mu-Hong Hu, Fu-Ming Guo
article en

Abstract

High-order harmonic generation in atomic systems driven by laser fields with tailored symmetries provides a powerful approach for producing structured ultrafast light sources. In this work, we theoretically investigate the ellipticity control of high-order harmonics emitted from helium atoms exposed to orthogonally polarized two-color laser pulses with a 1:3 frequency ratio. The polarization properties of the harmonics are governed by the interplay between the spatial symmetry of the driving field and the atomic potential. By numerically solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, we show that fine-tuning the relative phase and amplitude ratio between the fundamental and third-harmonic components enables selective symmetry breaking, resulting in the emission of elliptically and circularly polarized harmonics. Remarkably, we achieve near-perfect circular polarization (ellipticity ≈ 0.995) for the 5th harmonic, as well as highly circularly polarized 17th (0.945), 21st (0.96), and 23rd (0.935) harmonics, demonstrating a level of polarization control and efficiency that exceeds previous schemes. Our results highlight the advantage of using a 1:3 frequency ratio orthogonally polarized two-color laser field over the conventional 1:2 configuration, offering a promising route toward tunable attosecond light sources with tailored polarization characteristics.

SymmetryVol. 17(6)
Liaoning Normal University (CN), Yantai University (CN), Jilin University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 89%
Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications
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Tuning the Ellipticity of High-Order Harmonics from Helium in Orthogonal Two-Color Laser Fields — Yue Qiao, Shushan Zhou, et al. · Symmetry (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS