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Amelle Zaïr

Publications and source records attributed to Amelle Zaïr.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Unified Strong-Field Dynamics Simulations from Atoms to Heterostructures

We present \textsc{TDSE-Z}, a high-performance open-source framework for strong-field quantum dynamics in atomic, molecular, and semiconductor effective-mass systems. The core engine implements a weak-form Galerkin discretisation of the Hermitian BenDaniel-Duke operator, $\hat{T}_{\mathrm{BDD}} = -\frac{1}{2}\nabla\cdot(m^{-1}(\mathbf{r})\nabla)$, on geometry-adapted B-spline meshes, supporting arbitrary potentials and customisable laser configurations in one to three dimensions. We validate the static position-dependent-mass (PDM) eigensolver through two stringent benchmarks: a comparison to the analytical Quesne PDM model and a $\text{GaAs/Al}_{0.3}\text{Ga}_{0.7}\text{As}$ double quantum well, where the exponential decay of computed tunnel splittings follows Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) theory at the sub-percent level. We further demonstrate the time-propagation engine on constant-mass systems, accurately reproducing high-harmonic generation (HHG) spectra in atomic benchmarks and confirming the importance of dimensionality in fully capturing the strong light-matter interaction. Our implementation demonstrates robust strong-scaling efficiency, maintaining performance across hundreds of CPU cores. While the static eigensolver currently supports optional GPU offloading, the time-propagation engine is CPU-optimised, providing a modular architecture for future expansion toward exascale quantum dynamics.

quant-ph↗

Floquet-engineering unveiled by high-harmonic generation

Ultrafast optical control of solids has uncovered new phenomena and advanced non-equilibrium condensed matter physics, where photon dressed electronic states - Floquet Bloch states (FBSs) - emerge under a strong oscillating laser field, also known as Floquet engineering. Although FBSs have been extensively investigated using time and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy, direct evidence of their role in high-harmonic generation spectroscopy (HHGS) has remained elusive. Here, we present combined experimental and theoretical evidence that FBSs can be probed by HHG emission in the wide-bandgap solid magnesium oxide (MgO) driven by few cycle near infrared pulses. Experimentally, we observe clear evidence of FBSs in the HHG yield dependence on the crystal orientation. This specific feature is attributed to nonadiabatic coupling between FBSs and conduction bands near the Brillouin zone edge, where the strong laser field transiently breaks time reversal symmetry. We have confronted the experimental findings with numerical solutions of the time dependent Schrödinger equation, which reproduce the new feature and confirm its Floquet origin. The theoretical results show a coupling inducing a local band structure renormalization and Floquet like hybridization under strong field excitation. It also shows that FBS nonadiabatic dynamics persist in the strong field regime, establishing HHGS as a powerful probe of ultrafast light induced band hybridization in solids.

quant-ph↗

2D quantum-path interference in high-harmonic generation driven by highly-bichromatic fields

We experimentally observe a new type of quantum-path interference, in two-dimensions (2D-QPI), in high-harmonic generation (HHG) driven by an orthogonally-polarised highly-bichromatic field. This regime is marked by comparable intensities of the two orthogonal colours. In this highly-bichromatic regime, we demonstrate that 2D-QPI is encoded in the measured harmonic intensity modulations with respect to the relative phase of the two-colour field. The modulations of the odd-order harmonics show a monomodal behaviour, whereas the even harmonics are modulated in a bimodal structure. Our calculations using the strong-field approximation and saddle-point method disentangle contributions from multiple quantum orbits in this HHG regime, revealing that the dipole response for both odd and even harmonics inherits the dynamic symmetry of the orthogonally-polarised driving field. This new type of 2D-QPI offers a novel route to HHG spectroscopy of attosecond electron dynamics by lifting up the dimensionality of the quantum paths involved in the interference.

quant-ph↗

High Harmonic Generation in Two-Dimensional Mott Insulators

With a combination of numerical methods, including quantum Monte Carlo, exact diagonalization, and a simplified dynamical mean-field model, we consider the attosecond charge dynamics of electrons induced by strong-field laser pulses in two-dimensional Mott insulators. The necessity to go beyond single-particle approaches in these strongly correlated systems has made the simulation of two-dimensional extended materials challenging, and we contrast their resulting high-harmonic emission with more widely studied one-dimensional analogues. As well as considering the photo-induced breakdown of the Mott insulating state and magnetic order, we also resolve the time and ultra-high frequency domains of emission, which are used to characterize both the photo-transition, and the sub-cycle structure of the electron dynamics. This extends simulation capabilities and understanding of the photo-melting of these Mott insulators in two-dimensions, at the frontier of attosecond non-equilibrium science of correlated materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Symphony on Strong Field Approximation

This paper has been prepared by the Symphony collaboration (University of Warsaw, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, DESY/CNR and ICFO) on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the "simple man's models" which underlie most of the phenomena that occur when intense ultrashort laser pulses interact with matter. The phenomena in question include High-Harmonic Generation, Above-Threshold Ionization, and Non-Sequential Multielectron Ionization. "Simple man's models" provide, both an intuitive basis for understanding the numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, and the motivation for the powerful analytic approximations generally known as the Strong Field Approximation (SFA). In this paper we first review the SFA in the form developed by us in the last 25 years. In this approach SFA is a method to solve the TDSE using a systematic perturbation theory in a part of the Hamiltonian describing continuum-continuum transitions in the presence of the laser field. In this review we focus on recent applications of SFA to HHG, ATI and NSMI from multi-electron atoms and from multi-atom. The main novel part of the presented theory concerns generalizations of SFA to: (i) time-dependent treatment of two-electron atoms, allowing for studies of an interplay between Electron Impact Ionization (EII) and Resonant Excitation with Subsequent Ionization (RESI); (ii) time-dependent treatment in the single active electron (SAE) approximation of "large" molecules and targets which are themselves undergoing dynamics during the HHG or ATI process. In particular, we formulate the general expressions for the case of arbitrary molecules, combining input from quantum chemistry and quantum dynamics. We formulate also theory of time-dependent separable molecular potentials to model analytically the dynamics of realistic electronic wave packets for molecules in strong laser fields.

quant-ph↗

Generation of high-order harmonics with tunable photon energy and spectral width using double pulses

This work theoretically investigates high-order harmonic generation in rare gas atoms driven by two temporally delayed ultrashort laser pulses. Apart from their temporal delay, the two pulses are identical. Using a single-atom model of the laser-matter interaction it is shown that the photon energy of the generated harmonics is controllable within the range of one eV -- a bandwidth comparable to the photon energy of the fundamental field -- by varying the time delay between the generating laser pulses. It is also demonstrated that high-order harmonics generated by double pulses have advantageous characteristics, which mimick certain properties of an extreme ultraviolet (XUV) monochromator. With the proposed method, a simpler setup at a much lower cost and comparatively higher spectral yield can be implemented in contrast to other approaches.

physics.optics↗