Broadband extreme ultraviolet multilayer mirror for supercontinuum light at a photon energy of 35-65 eV

Design of broadband reflective circular polarizer for attosecond pulse in the extreme ultraviolet region

In this paper, we present a design method of broadband reflective circular polarizer (BRCP) in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region. By using this method, we designed three BRCPs with a 6, 12 and 18 eV bandwidth, respectively. Then, we investigated the performances of designed BRCPs in theory. The results indicated that the reflected lights of these BRCPs all showed a nearly 100% circular polarization degree and considerable circular reflection in their design band. In addition, we also studied the origin of high circular polarization degree by analyzing the phase shift and the reflectivity ratio between s- and p-polarized lights induced by the reflection of BRCPs. Furthermore, the pulse responses of BRCPs for attosecond pulses were also investigated. The proposed EUV BRCPs can be used for controlling the polarization state of broadband EUV sources, e.g., generating the circularly polarized attosecond pulse by a linearly polarized one.

Performance of a ruthenium beam separator used to separate soft x rays from light generated by a high-order harmonic light source

We describe the design and fabrication of a ruthenium beam separator used to simultaneously attenuate infrared light and reflect soft x rays. Measurements in the infrared and soft x-ray regions showed the beam separator to have a reflectivity of 50%-85% in the wavelength region from 6 to 10 nm at a grazing incidence angle of 7.5 deg and 4.3% at 800 nm and the same angle of grazing incidence, indicating that the amount of attenuation is 0.05-0.09. These results show that this beam separator could provide an effective means for separating IR light from soft x rays in light generated by high-order harmonic generation sources.

Demonstration of the high collection efficiency of a broadband Mo/Si multilayer mirror with a graded multilayer coating on an ellipsoidal substrate

A graded and broadband Mo/Si multilayer mirror for EUV spectroscopy is demonstrated. This mirror has an average reflectivity profile of 16% in the wavelength region from 15 nm to 17 nm and an effective area of 1100-1500 mm(2). This reflectivity is about 4 times larger than that of a standard Mo/Si multilayer mirror on a 1 in. diameter substrate, showing that the mirror can be used for measuring EUV fluorescence at wavelengths in the region around 15 nm to 17 nm.

Characterizing inner-shell with spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction

In many atomic, molecular and solid systems, Lorentzian and Fano profiles are commonly observed in a broad research fields throughout a variety of spectroscopies. As the profile structure is related to the phase of the time-dependent dipole moment, it plays an important role in the study of quantum properties. Here we determine the dipole phase in the inner-shell transition using spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction (SPIDER) with isolated attosecond pulses (IAPs). In addition, we propose a scheme for pulse generation and compression by manipulating the inner-shell transition. The electromagnetic radiation generated by the transition is temporally compressed to a few femtoseconds in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) region. The proposed pulse-compression scheme may provide an alternative route to producing attosecond pulses of light.

Characterizing and understanding the profile of atomic spectral lines tells us a great deal about an atom’s properties. Here, the authors combine attosecond transient spectroscopy and the SPIDER technique to reconstruct the dipole oscillation phase of the auto-ionisation inner-shell transition in neon.

Extreme ultraviolet supercontinua supporting pulse durations of less than one atomic unit of time

Double optical gating of high-harmonic generation was used to obtain supercontinuous spectra in the extreme UV (XUV) region including the water window. The spectra supported a 16 as pulse duration that is below one atomic unit of time (24 as). The dependence of the gated spectra on the carrier-envelope phase of the laser provided evidence that isolated attosecond pulses were generated. In addition, to ensure the temporal coherence of the XUV light, the pulse shape and phase of isolated 107 as XUV pulses using a portion of the spectrum were characterized by attosecond streaking.