Extension of harmonic cutoff in a multicycle chirped pulse combined with a chirp-free pulse

Abstract

We demonstrate high-order harmonic generation in a wave form synthesized by a multicycle 800-nm chirped laser pulse and a chirp-free laser pulse. Compared with the case of using only a chirped pulse, both the harmonic cutoff and the extreme ultraviolet supercontinuum can be extended when a weak chirp-free pulse is combined with the chirped pulse. When chirp-free pulse intensity grows, the cutoff energy and bandwidth of the supercontinuum grow as well. It is found that the broad supercontinuum can be achieved for a driving pulse with long duration even though the driving pulse reaches 10 optical cycles. An isolated attosecond pulse with duration of about 59 as is obtained, and after appropriate phase compensation with a duration of about $11$ as. In addition, by performing time-frequency analyses and the classical trajectory simulation, the difference in supercontinuum generation between the preceding wave form and a similar wave form synthesized by an $800$-nm fundamental pulse and a $1600$-nm subharmonic pulse is investigated.