We present the first measurement of the attosecond emission generated from underdense plasma produced on a solid target. We generate high-order harmonics of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser focused in a weakly ionized underdense chromium plasma. Using the “Reconstruction of Attosecond Beating by Interference of Two-photon Transitions” (RABITT) technique, we show that the 11^th to the 19^th harmonic orders form in the time domain an attosecond pulse train with each pulse having 300 as duration, which is only 1.05 times the theoretical Fourier transform limit. Measurements reveal a very low positive group delay dispersion of 4200 as². Beside its fundamental interest, high-order harmonic generation in plasma plumes could thus provide an intense source of attosecond pulses for applications.

© 2011 Optical Society of America

1. P. Antoine, A. L’Huillier, and M. Lewenstein, “Attosecond pulse trains using high-order harmonics,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1234–1237 (1996). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
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3. M. Hentschel, R. Kienberger, C. Spielmann, G. Reider, N. Milosevic, T. Brabec, P. Corkum, U. Heinzmann, M. Drescher, and F. Krausz, “Attosecond metrology,” Nature 414, 509–513 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
4. P. Johnsson, R. López Martens, S. Kazamias, J. Mauritsson, C. Valentin, T. Remetter, K. Varjú, M. B. Gaarde, Y. Mairesse, H. Wabnitz, P. Salières, P. Balcou, K. J. Schafer, and A. L’Huillier, “Attosecond electron wave packet dynamics in strong laser fields,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 013001 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
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10. M. Uiberacker, T. Uphues, M. Schultze, A. Verhoef, V. Yakovlev, M. Kling, J. Rauschenberger, N. Kabachnik, H. Schroder, M. Lezius, K. Kompa, H. G. Muller, M. Vrakking, S. Hendel, U. Kleineberg, U. Heinzmann, M. Drescher, and F. Krausz, “Attosecond real-time observation of electron tunnelling in atoms,” Nature 446, 627–632 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
11. W. Boutu, S. Haessler, H. Merdji, P. Breger, G. Waters, M. Stankiewicz, L. J. Frasinski, R. Taïeb, J. Caillat, A. Maquet, P. Monchicourt, B. Carré, and P. Salières, “Coherent control of attosecond emission from aligned molecules,” Nat. Phys. 4, 545–549 (2008). [CrossRef]
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17. Y. Akiyama, K. Midorikawa, Y. Matsunawa, Y. Nagata, M. Obara, H. Tashiro, and K. Toyoda, “Generation of high-order harmonics using laser-produced rare-gas-like ions,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 2176–2179 (1992). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
18. C. G. Wahlström, S. Borgström, J. Larsson, and S. G. Pettersson, “High-order harmonic generation in laserproduced ions using a near-infrared laser,” Phys. Rev. A 51, 585–591 (1995). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
19. R. Ganeev, M. Baba, M. Suzuki, and H. Kuroda, “High-order harmonic generation from silver plasma,” Phys. Lett. A 339, 103–109 (2005). [CrossRef]
20. J. F. Hergott, M. Kovacev, H. Merdji, C. Hubert, Y. Mairesse, E. Jean, P. Breger, P. Agostini, B. Carré, and P. Salières, “Extreme-ultraviolet high-order harmonic pulses in the microjoule range,” Phys. Rev. A 66, 021801 (2002). [CrossRef]
21. R. Ganeev, and T. Luc, “Ozaki, and P. Redkin, “Maximizing the yield and cutoff of high-order harmonic generation from plasma plume,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 24, 2770–2778 (2007). [CrossRef]
22. R. Ganeev, E. Bom, J. Kieffer, M. Suzuki, H. Kuroda, and T. Ozaki, “Demonstration of the 101st harmonic generated from a laser-produced manganese plasma,” Phys. Rev. A 76, 023831–023837 (2007). [CrossRef]
23. R. Ganeev, H. Singhal, P. Naik, V. Arora, U. Chakravarty, J. Chakera, R. Khan, I. Kulagin, P. Redkin, M. Raghuramaiah, and P. Gupta, “Harmonic generation from indium-rich plasmas,” Phys. Rev. A 74, 063824 (2006). [CrossRef]
24. M. Suzuki, M. Baba, R. Ganeev, H. Kuroda, and T. Ozaki, “Anomalous enhancement of a single high-order harmonic by using a laser-ablation tin plume at 47 nm,” Opt. Lett. 31, 3306–3308 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
25. K. J. Schafer, B. Yang, L. F. Dimauro, and K. C. Kulander, “Above threshold ionization beyond the high harmonic cutoff,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 1599–1602 (1993). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
26. P. B. Corkum, “Plasma perspective on strong field multiphoton ionization,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 1994–1997 (1993). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
27. P. Dietrich, N. H. Burnett, M. Ivanov, and P. B. Corkum, “High-harmonic generation and correlated two-electron multiphoton ionization with elliptically polarized light,” Phys. Rev. A 50, R3585–R3588 (1994). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
28. P. Antoine, A. L’Huillier, M. Lewenstein, P. Salières, and B. Carré, “Theory of high-order harmonic generation by an elliptically polarized laser field,” Phys. Rev. A 53, 1725–1745 (1996). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
29. P. Salières, B. Carré, L. Le Deroff, F. Grasbon, G. G. Paulus, H. Walther, R. Kopold, W. Becker, D. B. Milošević, A. Sanpera, and M. Lewenstein, “Feynman’s path-integral approach for intense-laser-atom interactions,” Science 292, 902–905 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
30. Y. Mairesse, A. de Bohan, L. J. Frasinski, H. Merdji, L. C. Dinu, P. Monchicourt, P. Breger, M. Kovacev, R. Taïeb, B. Carré, H. G. Muller, P. Agostini, and P. Salières, “Attosecond synchronization of high-harmonic soft x-rays,” Science 302, 1540–1543 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
31. V. Véniard, R. Taïeb, and A. Maquet, “Phase dependence of (N+1)-color (N>1) ir-uv photoionization of atoms with higher harmonics,” Phys. Rev. A 54, 721–728 (1996). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
32. M. Swoboda, J. Dahlström, T. Ruchon, P. Johnsson, J. Mauritsson, A. L’Huillier, and K. J. Schafer, “Intensity dependence of laser-assisted attosecond photoionization spectra,” Laser Phys. 19, 1591–1599 (2009). [CrossRef]
33. R. A. Ganeev, L. B. Elouga Bom, J. C. Kieffer, and T. Ozaki, “Systematic investigation of resonance-induced single-harmonic enhancement in the extreme-ultraviolet range,” Phys. Rev. A 75, 063806 (2007). [CrossRef]
34. F. A. Ilkov, J. E. Decker, and S. L. Chin, “Ionization of atoms in the tunnelling regime with experimental evidence using Hg atoms,” J. Phys. B 25(19), 4005–4020 (1992). [CrossRef]
35. E. Constant, D. Garzella, P. Breger, E. Mével, C. Dorrer, C. Le Blanc, F. Salin, and P. Agostini, “Optimizing high harmonic generation in absorbing gases: model and experiment,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 1668–1671 (1999). [CrossRef]
36. K. Varjú, Y. Mairesse, B. Carré, M. B. Gaarde, P. Johnsson, S. Kazamias, R. Lopez-Martens, J. Mauritsson, K. J. Schafer, P. Balcou, A. L’Huillier, and P. Salières, “Frequency chirp of harmonic and attosecond pulses,” J. Mod. Opt. 52, 379–394 (2005). [CrossRef]
37. Y. Mairesse, A. de Bohan, L. J. Frasinski, H. Merdji, L. C. Dinu, P. Monchicourt, P. Breger, M. Kovačev, T. Auguste, B. Carré, H. G. Muller, P. Agostini, and P. Salières, “Optimization of attosecond pulse generation,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 163901 (2004). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

J. Mod. Opt.

• K. Varjú, Y. Mairesse, B. Carré, M. B. Gaarde, P. Johnsson, S. Kazamias, R. Lopez-Martens, J. Mauritsson, K. J. Schafer, P. Balcou, A. L’Huillier, and P. Salières, “Frequency chirp of harmonic and attosecond pulses,” J. Mod. Opt. 52, 379–394 (2005). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Soc. Am. B

• R. Ganeev, and T. Luc, “Ozaki, and P. Redkin, “Maximizing the yield and cutoff of high-order harmonic generation from plasma plume,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 24, 2770–2778 (2007). [CrossRef]

J. Phys. B

• F. A. Ilkov, J. E. Decker, and S. L. Chin, “Ionization of atoms in the tunnelling regime with experimental evidence using Hg atoms,” J. Phys. B 25(19), 4005–4020 (1992). [CrossRef]

Laser Phys.

• M. Swoboda, J. Dahlström, T. Ruchon, P. Johnsson, J. Mauritsson, A. L’Huillier, and K. J. Schafer, “Intensity dependence of laser-assisted attosecond photoionization spectra,” Laser Phys. 19, 1591–1599 (2009). [CrossRef]

Nat. Phys.

• W. Boutu, S. Haessler, H. Merdji, P. Breger, G. Waters, M. Stankiewicz, L. J. Frasinski, R. Taïeb, J. Caillat, A. Maquet, P. Monchicourt, B. Carré, and P. Salières, “Coherent control of attosecond emission from aligned molecules,” Nat. Phys. 4, 545–549 (2008). [CrossRef]
• S. Haessler, J. Caillat, W. Boutu, C. Giovanetti-Teixeira, T. Ruchon, T. Auguste, Z. Diveki, P. Breger, A. Maquet, B. Carre, R. Taïeb, and P. Salieres, “Attosecond imaging of molecular electronic wavepackets,” Nat. Phys. 6, 200–206 (2010). [CrossRef]
• Y. Nomura, R. Hörlein, P. Tzallas, B. Dromey, S. Rykovanov, Z. Major, J. Osterhoff, S. Karsch, L. Veisz, M. Zepf, D. Charalambidis, F. Krausz, and G. D. Tsakiris, “Attosecond phase locking of harmonics emitted from laser-produced plasmas,” Nat. Phys. 5, 124–128 (2008). [CrossRef]

Nature

• J. Itatani, J. Levesque, D. Zeidler, H. Niikura, H. Pepin, J. C. Kieffer, P. B. Corkum, and D. M. Villeneuve, “Tomographic imaging of molecular orbitals,” Nature 432, 867–871 (2004). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• M. Hentschel, R. Kienberger, C. Spielmann, G. Reider, N. Milosevic, T. Brabec, P. Corkum, U. Heinzmann, M. Drescher, and F. Krausz, “Attosecond metrology,” Nature 414, 509–513 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• M. Drescher, M. Hentschel, R. Kienberger, M. Uiberacker, V. Yakovlev, A. Scrinzi, T. Westerwalbesloh, U. Kleineberg, U. Heinzmann, and F. Krausz, “Time-resolved atomic inner-shell spectroscopy,” Nature 419, 803–807 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• A. Föhlisch, P. Feulner, F. Hennies, A. Fink, D. Menzel, D. Sanchez-Portal, P. M. Echenique, and W. Wurth, “Direct observation of electron dynamics in the attosecond domain,” Nature 436, 373–376 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• A. Cavalieri, N. Muller, T. Uphues, V. Yakovlev, A. Baltuška, B. Horvath, B. Schmidt, L. Blumel, R. Holzwarth, S. Hendel, M. Drescher, U. Kleineberg, P. Echenique, R. Kienberger, F. Krausz, and U. Heinzmann, “Attosecond spectroscopy in condensed matter,” Nature 449, 1029–1032 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• M. Uiberacker, T. Uphues, M. Schultze, A. Verhoef, V. Yakovlev, M. Kling, J. Rauschenberger, N. Kabachnik, H. Schroder, M. Lezius, K. Kompa, H. G. Muller, M. Vrakking, S. Hendel, U. Kleineberg, U. Heinzmann, M. Drescher, and F. Krausz, “Attosecond real-time observation of electron tunnelling in atoms,” Nature 446, 627–632 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Lett.

• M. Suzuki, M. Baba, R. Ganeev, H. Kuroda, and T. Ozaki, “Anomalous enhancement of a single high-order harmonic by using a laser-ablation tin plume at 47 nm,” Opt. Lett. 31, 3306–3308 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Phys. Lett. A

• R. Ganeev, M. Baba, M. Suzuki, and H. Kuroda, “High-order harmonic generation from silver plasma,” Phys. Lett. A 339, 103–109 (2005). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. A

• J. F. Hergott, M. Kovacev, H. Merdji, C. Hubert, Y. Mairesse, E. Jean, P. Breger, P. Agostini, B. Carré, and P. Salières, “Extreme-ultraviolet high-order harmonic pulses in the microjoule range,” Phys. Rev. A 66, 021801 (2002). [CrossRef]
• R. Ganeev, E. Bom, J. Kieffer, M. Suzuki, H. Kuroda, and T. Ozaki, “Demonstration of the 101st harmonic generated from a laser-produced manganese plasma,” Phys. Rev. A 76, 023831–023837 (2007). [CrossRef]
• R. Ganeev, H. Singhal, P. Naik, V. Arora, U. Chakravarty, J. Chakera, R. Khan, I. Kulagin, P. Redkin, M. Raghuramaiah, and P. Gupta, “Harmonic generation from indium-rich plasmas,” Phys. Rev. A 74, 063824 (2006). [CrossRef]
• P. Dietrich, N. H. Burnett, M. Ivanov, and P. B. Corkum, “High-harmonic generation and correlated two-electron multiphoton ionization with elliptically polarized light,” Phys. Rev. A 50, R3585–R3588 (1994). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• P. Antoine, A. L’Huillier, M. Lewenstein, P. Salières, and B. Carré, “Theory of high-order harmonic generation by an elliptically polarized laser field,” Phys. Rev. A 53, 1725–1745 (1996). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• C. G. Wahlström, S. Borgström, J. Larsson, and S. G. Pettersson, “High-order harmonic generation in laserproduced ions using a near-infrared laser,” Phys. Rev. A 51, 585–591 (1995). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• V. Véniard, R. Taïeb, and A. Maquet, “Phase dependence of (N+1)-color (N>1) ir-uv photoionization of atoms with higher harmonics,” Phys. Rev. A 54, 721–728 (1996). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• R. A. Ganeev, L. B. Elouga Bom, J. C. Kieffer, and T. Ozaki, “Systematic investigation of resonance-induced single-harmonic enhancement in the extreme-ultraviolet range,” Phys. Rev. A 75, 063806 (2007). [CrossRef]
• S. Haessler, B. Fabre, J. Higuet, J. Caillat, T. Ruchon, P. Breger, B. Carré, E. Constant, A. Maquet, E. Mével, P. Salières, R. Taïeb, and Y. Mairesse, “Phase-resolved attosecond near-threshold photoionization of molecular nitrogen,” Phys. Rev. A 80, 011404(R) (2009). [CrossRef]
• L. B. Elouga Bom, J. Kieffer, R. Ganeev, M. Suzuki, H. Kuroda, and T. Ozaki, “Influence of the main pulse and prepulse intensity on high-order harmonic generation in silver plasma ablation,” Phys. Rev. A 75, 033804–033808 (2007). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. Lett.

• Y. Akiyama, K. Midorikawa, Y. Matsunawa, Y. Nagata, M. Obara, H. Tashiro, and K. Toyoda, “Generation of high-order harmonics using laser-produced rare-gas-like ions,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 2176–2179 (1992). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• E. A. Gibson, A. Paul, N. Wagner, R. Tobey, S. Backus, I. P. Christov, M. M. Murnane, and H. C. Kapteyn, “High-order harmonic generation up to 250 eV from highly ionized argon,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 033001 (2004). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• P. Johnsson, R. López Martens, S. Kazamias, J. Mauritsson, C. Valentin, T. Remetter, K. Varjú, M. B. Gaarde, Y. Mairesse, H. Wabnitz, P. Salières, P. Balcou, K. J. Schafer, and A. L’Huillier, “Attosecond electron wave packet dynamics in strong laser fields,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 013001 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• J. Mauritsson, P. Johnsson, E. Mansten, M. Swoboda, T. Ruchon, A. L’Huillier, and K. Schafer, “Coherent electron scattering captured by an attosecond quantum stroboscope,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 073003 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• P. Antoine, A. L’Huillier, and M. Lewenstein, “Attosecond pulse trains using high-order harmonics,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1234–1237 (1996). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• E. Constant, D. Garzella, P. Breger, E. Mével, C. Dorrer, C. Le Blanc, F. Salin, and P. Agostini, “Optimizing high harmonic generation in absorbing gases: model and experiment,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 1668–1671 (1999). [CrossRef]
• K. J. Schafer, B. Yang, L. F. Dimauro, and K. C. Kulander, “Above threshold ionization beyond the high harmonic cutoff,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 1599–1602 (1993). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• P. B. Corkum, “Plasma perspective on strong field multiphoton ionization,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 71, 1994–1997 (1993). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• Y. Mairesse, A. de Bohan, L. J. Frasinski, H. Merdji, L. C. Dinu, P. Monchicourt, P. Breger, M. Kovačev, T. Auguste, B. Carré, H. G. Muller, P. Agostini, and P. Salières, “Optimization of attosecond pulse generation,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 163901 (2004). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Science

• P. Salières, B. Carré, L. Le Deroff, F. Grasbon, G. G. Paulus, H. Walther, R. Kopold, W. Becker, D. B. Milošević, A. Sanpera, and M. Lewenstein, “Feynman’s path-integral approach for intense-laser-atom interactions,” Science 292, 902–905 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• Y. Mairesse, A. de Bohan, L. J. Frasinski, H. Merdji, L. C. Dinu, P. Monchicourt, P. Breger, M. Kovacev, R. Taïeb, B. Carré, H. G. Muller, P. Agostini, and P. Salières, “Attosecond synchronization of high-harmonic soft x-rays,” Science 302, 1540–1543 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• P. M. Paul, E. S. Toma, P. Breger, G. Mullot, F. Auge, P. Balcou, H. G. Muller, and P. Agostini, “Observation of a train of attosecond pulses from high harmonic generation,” Science 292, 1689–1692 (2001). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

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