International Postdoctoral Fellows Program: Single-atom Effects Responsible for the Generation of High Harmonics

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This award is under the International Postdoctoral Fellows Program, which enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twelve months of research at foreign centers of proven excellence. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twelve-month postdoctoral research visit by Dr. Justin Peatross of the University of Rochester to go to Moscow, Russia to the General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences to work with Professor M. V. Fedorov. It has recently been discovered that high-order harmonics of laser light can be created when an intense laser interacts with atoms. The efficiency of generating the higher harmonics relative to the lower ones can be surprisingly high, outside of the range wherein perturbative approximations can be used. The high harmonics appear when a laser drives atoms so strongly that they are on the verge of ionization. The problem of understanding high-harmonic generation has two parts: 1) the single-atom response to incident laser light, and 2) the collective behavior of the atoms regarding the matching of the phases of the emitted harmonic light. The proposed research centers primarily on the single-atom effects responsible for the generation of high harmonics. An investigation will be made into the relevance of the classical equations of motion of a driven electron trapped in a non-linear potential well. Other single-atom descriptions of harmonic generation will also be investigated. The award recommendation provides funds to cover international travel, a stipend for twelve months, a dependent allowance and money for lab fees.