arXiv subjects

Jingsong Gao

Publications and source records attributed to Jingsong Gao.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Revisiting self-seeding mechanism by generating vector ultraviolet N$_2^{+}$ lasing

An intense femtosecond laser pulse can generate ultraviolet air lasing, offering a promising remote light source. A long-standing hypothesis is whether it is seeded by a self-generated spectral component, such as the second harmonic that is inevitably produced by the plasma gradient. Here, we report the generation of both radially and azimuthally polarized N$_2^+$ lasing driven by a single 800-nm cylindrical vector beam. Meanwhile, the same vector pump was applied to drive the generation of vector second harmonics in plasma. The radially polarized pump produces radially polarized second harmonics while the azimuthally polarized pump yields no second harmonic generation owing to the radial direction of plasma gradient. The absence of the azimuthally polarized second harmonic rules out the hypothesis of self-seeding by second harmonics, as both radially and azimuthally polarized N$_2^+$ lasing are observed with comparable intensities. By characterizing the spatial phase distribution of vector 391-nm lasing, we concluded that its phase is synchronized with the pump. These results suggest that amplified spontaneous emissions are the origin of N$_2^+$ lasing under the most common condition of low gas pressure, which was effectively demonstrated by theoretical simulations. Our work provides a promising method for remotely generating vector ultraviolet light sources.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2025

Time-domain measurement of Auger electron dynamics in xenon atoms after giant resonant photoionization

Time-resolved measurement of Auger-Meitner (AM) decay [Nature 419, 803 (2002)] marked a milestone in the development of attosecond science. To date, the time constants for the AM decay processes obtained from the time-domain experiments were found to be consistent with the values deduced from conventional energy-domain measurements. One of the main factors limiting the temporal resolution of these studies is the unlocked carrier-envelope-phase (CEP) of the laser pulses used to probe the electronic dynamics triggered by inner-shell photoabsorption. In this work, we report time-resolved inner-shell electron spectroscopy of xenon and krypton using attosecond soft X-ray (atto-SXR) pulses centered at 130 eV in combination with CEP-stabilized few-cycle Yb laser pulses. We observed that the N$_{4,5}$OO Auger electrons from xenon exhibit a clear streaking pattern, but with an unexpected time shift of $\sim$ 1.32 fs relative to the 4$d$ photoelectrons. Furthermore, the energy-integrated yield of streaked Auger electrons from xenon exhibits a pronounced minimum at a pump-probe time delay of 4 fs. Neither of these observations can be explained by current streaking theories and both are inconsistent with lifetimes inferred from energy-domain measurements. The M$_{4,5}$NN Auger electrons from krypton partly overlap in energy with the 3$d$ inner-shell photoelectrons and do not show these anomalous features. This study offers new insights into the inner-shell electron dynamics of heavy atoms in the giant dipole resonance region, laying the groundwork for attosecond soft X-ray spectroscopy of molecular systems containing iodine or bromine atoms.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2025

Strong-Field Photoelectron Interferometry with Near-Single-Cycle Yb Lasers

The concept of using photoelectron interferometry in short laser fields to probe electron dynamics and target structures was introduced more than two decades ago. However, the quality of experimental data has remained insufficient for quantitative analysis, largely due to the instability of few-cycle Ti:Sa laser pulses, the current workhorse of short pulses. Here, we report the first systematic strong-field ionization experiments performed with industrial-grade, carrier-envelope-phase (CEP) stabilized, near-single-cycle Yb lasers. By measuring photoelectron momentum distributions in the direct-ionization regime, we show that single-cycle cosine-shaped pulses can separate and enhance both spider-leg and fishbone holographic structures. The spider-leg structure enables extraction of the electron scattering phase from the Ar atomic potential-information typically accessible only through attosecond metrology, while the fishbone structure reveals the orbital-parity contrast between Ar atoms and nitrogen molecules. Our measurements are quantitatively reproduced by both semiclassical Herman-Kluk-propagator and \textit{ab initio} simulations, paving the way for precision studies of electron-molecule scattering with widely accessible industrial-grade lasers.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2025

Bright 25-attosecond light pulses reach the one atomic unit of time

Generating ever-shorter and brighter light pulses has long been a central pursuit in ultrafast science, as it benchmarks our ability to create and manipulate the coherence on the intrinsic timescale of sub-atomic electron motion. The current state-of-the-art in attosecond pulse generation reaches durations of 40-50 attoseconds (1 as = $10^{-18}$ seconds), produced via high-order harmonic generation (HHG) driven by secondary mid-infrared light sources. However, these sources often suffer from low stability and poor HHG conversion efficiency. In this work, we demonstrate the generation of 25$\pm$2 attosecond light pulses, a new world record for the shortest light pulse, driven by a post-compressed, industrial-grade Yb-based laser system. The resulting high-harmonic spectrum spans photon energies from 50 eV to 320 eV, covering the carbon K-edge, with a calibrated photon flux exceeding $10^{12}$ photons per second, approximately three orders of magnitude higher than previous studies. The pulse duration was characterized using an angle-resolved photoelectron streaking camera on helium atoms and systematically optimized through the use of dielectric filters of varying thicknesses to compensate the attochirp. Our study reaches the threshold of one atomic unit of time (24.2 attoseconds), the boundary between atomic and ionic physics, opening the door to resolving exciting ionic quantum dynamics with tabletop lasers.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2024

Controlling the polarization of nitrogen ion lasing

Air lasing provides a promising technique to remotely produce coherent radiation in the atmosphere and attracts continuous attention. However, the polarization properties of N2+ lasing with seeding has not been understood since it was discovered ten years ago, in which the behaviors appear disordered and confusing. Here, we performed an experimental and theoretical investigation on the polarization properties of N2+ lasing and successfully revealed its underlying physical mechanism. We found that the optical gain is anisotropic owing to the permanent alignment of N2+ induced by the preferential ionization of the pump light. As a result, the polarization of N2+ lasing tends to align with that of the pump light after amplification, which becomes more pronounced with increasing amplification factor. Based on the permanent alignment of N2+, we built a theoretical model that analytically interpreted and numerically reproduced the experimental observations, which points out the key factors for controlling the polarization of N2+ lasing.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Amplification of light pulses with orbital angular momentum (OAM) in nitrogen ions lasing

Nitrogen ions pumped by intense femtosecond laser pulses give rise to optical amplification in the ultraviolet range. Here, we demonstrated that a seed light pulse carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) can be significantly amplified in nitrogen plasma excited by a Gaussian femtosecond laser pulse. With the topological charge of +1 and -1, we observed an energy amplification of the seed light pulse by two orders of magnitude, while the amplified pulse carries the same OAM as the incident seed pulse. Moreover, we show that a spatial misalignment of the plasma amplifier with the OAM seed beam leads to an amplified emission of Gaussian mode without OAM, due to the special spatial profile of the OAM seed pulse that presents a donut-shaped intensity distribution. Utilizing this misalignment, we can implement an optical switch that toggles the output signal between Gaussian mode and OAM mode. This work not only certifies the phase transfer from the seed light to the amplified signal, but also highlights the important role of spatial overlap of the donut-shaped seed beam with the gain region of the nitrogen plasma for the achievement of OAM beam amplification.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2023

Structured air lasing of N2+

Structured light has attracted great interest in scientific and technical fields. Here, we demonstrate the first generation of structured air lasing in N2+ driven by 800 nm femtosecond laser pulses. By focusing a vortex pump beam at 800 nm in N2 gas, we generate a vortex superfluorescent radiation of N2+ at 391 nm, which carries the same photon orbital angular momentum as the pump beam. With the injection of a Gaussian seed beam at 391 nm, the coherent radiation is amplified, but the vorticity is unchanged. A new physical mechanism is revealed in the vortex N2+ superfluorescent radiation: the vortex pump beam transfers the spatial spiral phase into the N2+ gain medium, and the Gaussian seed beam picks up the spatial spiral phase and is then amplified into a vortex beam. Moreover, when we employ a pump beam with a cylindrical vector mode, the Gaussian seed beam is correspondingly amplified into a cylindrical vector beam. Surprisingly, the spatial polarization state of the amplified radiation is identical to that of the vector pump beam regardless of whether the Gaussian seed beam is linearly, elliptically, or circularly polarized. Solving three-dimensional coupled wave equations, we show how a Gaussian beam becomes a cylindrical vector beam in a cylindrically symmetric gain medium. This study provides a novel approach to generating structured light via N2+ air lasing.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Free-space remote sensing of rotation at photon-counting level

The rotational Doppler effect associated with light's orbital angular momentum (OAM) has been found as a powerful tool to detect rotating bodies. However, this method was only demonstrated experimentally on the laboratory scale under well controlled conditions so far. And its real potential lies at the practical applications in the field of remote sensing. We have established a 120-meter long free-space link between the rooftops of two buildings and show that both the rotation speed and the rotational symmetry of objects can be identified from the detected rotational Doppler frequency shift signal at photon count level. Effects of possible slight misalignments and atmospheric turbulences are quantitatively analyzed in terms of mode power spreading to the adjacent modes as well as the transfer of rotational frequency shifts. Moreover, our results demonstrate that with the preknowledge of the object's rotational symmetry one may always deduce the rotation speed no matter how strong the coupling to neighboring modes is. Without any information of the rotating object, the deduction of the object's symmetry and rotational speed may still be obtained as long as the mode spreading efficiency does not exceed 50 %. Our work supports the feasibility of a practical sensor to remotely detect both the speed and symmetry of rotating bodies.

physics.optics↗