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Tian-Min Yan

Publications and source records attributed to Tian-Min Yan.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Probing Electronic Motion and Core Potential by Coulomb-reshaped Terahertz Radiation

The nature of electronic motion and structural information of atoms and molecules is encoded into strong-field induced radiations ranging from terahertz (THz) to extreme ultraviolet wavelength. The dependence of THz yields in bi-chromatic laser fields on ellipticity and interpulse phase delay were experimentally measured, and the trajectory calculations establish the link between the THz emission and the motion of the photoelectron wave packet. The interaction between the photoelectron and parent core transforms from soft collision to recollision as the laser field tuned from elliptical to linear polarization, which can be reflected in THz emission. The soft collision is found to be more effective in reconstructing electron dynamics through THz polarization, which enables to construct the effective core potential of the generating medium with the Coulomb-reshaped THz radiation in an elliptically polarized laser field. Our work allows designing innovative all-optical THz measurements of electronic and structural dynamics.

physics.atom-ph

Temporal-Spatial Manipulation of Bi-Focal Bi-Chromatic Fields for Terahertz Radiations

Mixing the fundamental ($ω$) and the second harmonic (2$ω$) waves in gas phase is a widely employed technique for emitting terahertz (THz) pulses. The THz generation driven by bi-chromatic fields can be described by the photocurrent model, where the THz generation is attributed to free electrons ionized by the $ω$ field, and the 2$ω$ field provides a perturbation to break the symmetry of the asymptotic momentum of free electrons. However, we find that the THz radiation is amplified by one order of magnitude when driven by bi-focal bi-chromatic fields, contradicting the common understanding of the photocurrent model. Meanwhile, present measurements demonstrate that the THz radiation mainly originates from the plasma created by the 2$ω$ pulses instead of the $ω$ pulses. Energy transfer from the 2$ω$ beam to the THz beam during the THz generation has been observed, validating the major contribution of the 2$ω$ beam. Furthermore, the THz bandwidth has been observed to extensively exceed the bandwidth of the pump pulse, not be explained by the photocurrent model as well. These counterintuitive results indicate that undiscovered physical mechanisms are involved in bi-chromatic THz generation in plasma, presenting a significant challenge for understanding strong-field nonlinear optics and simultaneously expanding various applications.

physics.optics

Magneto-optical trap reaction microscope for photoionization of cold strontium atoms

We developed a magneto-optical trap reaction microscope (MOTREMI) for strontium atoms by combining the multi-particle coincident detection with laser cooling technique. Present compact injection system can provide cold Sr atoms in three modes of 2D MOT, molasses and 3D MOT, delivering targets with adjustable densities and ratios of the ground state $5s^2$ ($^1S_{0}$) and the excited states $5s5p$ ($^{1}P_{1}$ and $^{3}P_{J}$ etc). The target profiles for the temperature, the density and the size of 3D MOT as well as cold atomic flux in 2D MOT model were characterized in details. With present state-of-the-art setup, we demonstrated the single photoionization of Sr atoms with molasses by absorption of few 800-nm photons, where Sr$^+$ and $e$ were detected in coincidence and most of ionization channels were identified taking into account photoelectron energy, laser-intensity dependence, and target dependence. The best momentum resolution of coincident Sr$^+$ and $e$ along time-of-flight are achieved up to 0.12 a.u. and 0.02 a.u., respectively. Present photoelectron momentum distributions ionized from the ground state and a few excited states illuminate unprecedentedly rich landscapes manifesting prominent features for multi-photon absorption. The full vector momenta of electrons and recoil ion in coincidence paves the way to further studying two-electron correlation dynamics and multi-electron effects in the multiple ionization of alkaline-earth atoms in the ultraviolet region.

physics.atom-ph

Coulomb potential determining terahertz polarization in two-color laser field

The orientation and ellipticity of terahertz (THz) polarization generated by two-color strong field not only cast light on underlying mechanisms of laser-matter interaction, but also play an important role for various applications. We develop the Coulomb-corrected classical trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) method to well reproduce the joint measurements, that the THz polarization generated by the linearly-polarized 800 nm and circularly-polarized 400 nm fields is independent on two-color phase delay. The trajectory analysis shows that the Coulomb potential twists the THz polarization by deflecting the orientation of asymptotic momentum of electron trajectories. Further, the CTMC calculations predict that, the two-color mid-infrared field can effectively accelerate the electron rapidly away from the parent core to relieve the disturbance of Coulomb potential, and simultaneously create large transverse acceleration of trajectories, leading to the circularly-polarized THz radiation.

physics.optics

Intensity-surged and Bandwidth-extended Terahertz Radiation in Two-foci Cascading Plasmas

The two-color strong-field mixing in gas medium is a widely-used approach to generate bright broadband terahertz (THz) radiation. Here, we present a new and counterintuitive method to promote THz performance in two-color scheme. Beyond our knowledge that the maximum THz generation occurs with two-color foci overlapped, we found that, when the foci of two-color beams are noticeably separated along the propagation axis resulting in cascading plasmas, the THz conversion efficiency is surged by one order of magnitude and the bandwidth is stretched by more than 2 times, achieving $10^{-3}$ conversion efficiency and $>$100 THz bandwidth under the condition of 800/400 nm, $\sim$35 fs driving lasers. With the help of the pulse propagation equation and photocurrent model, the observations can be partially understood by the compromise between THz generation and absorption due to the spatial redistribution of laser energy in cascading plasmas. Present method can be extended to mid-infrared driving laser, and the new records of THz peak power and conversion efficiency are expected.

physics.optics

Terahertz field induced near-cutoff even-order harmonics in femtosecond laser

High-order harmonic generation by femtosecond laser pulse in the presence of a moderately strong terahertz (THz) field is studied under the strong field approximation, showing a simple proportionality of near-cutoff even-order harmonic (NCEH) amplitude to the THz electric field. The formation of the THz induced-NCEHs is analytically shown for both continuous wave and Gaussian pulse. The perturbation analysis with regard to the frequency ratio of the THz field to the femtosecond pulse shows the THz-induced NCEHs originates from its first-order correction, and the available parametric conditions for the phenomenon is also clarified. As the complete characterization of the time-domain waveform of broadband THz field is essential for a wide variety of applications, the work provides an alternative time-resolved field-detection technique, allowing for a robust broadband characterization of pulses in THz spectral range.

physics.optics

Ellipticity-dependent sequential over-barrier ionization of cold rubidium

We perform high-resolution measurements of momentum distribution on Rb$^{n+}$ recoil ions up to charge state $n=4$, where laser-cooled rubidium atoms are ionized by femtosecond elliptically polarized lasers with the pulse duration of 35 fs and the intensity of 3.3$\times$10$^{15}$ W/cm$^2$ in the over-barrier ionization (OBI) regime. The momentum distributions of the recoil ions are found to exhibit multi-band structures as the ellipticity varies from the linear to circular polarizations. The origin of these band structures can be explained quantitatively by the classical OBI model and dedicated classical trajectory Monte Carlo simulations with Heisenberg potential. Specifically, with back analysis of the classical trajectories, we reveal the ionization time and the OBI geometry of the sequentially released electrons, disentangling the mechanisms behind the tilted angle of the band structures. These results indicate that the classical treatment can describe the strong-field multiple ionization processes of alkali atoms.

physics.atom-ph

Terahertz Emisssion from Quantum Interference of Electron Trajectories

The semiclassical electron trajectory, the so-called quantum orbits, is employed to explain the terahertz wave generation (TWG) in dual-color strong field, and the feasibility of the theory is validated by the measurement. We find that TWG stems from quantum path interference of partial electron wavepacket released at the neighbouring cycles of the dual-color electric field, manifesting the temporal Young's double-slit interference of single electron. The trajectories released from neighbouring cycles, creating TWG, also account for intercycle interference fringes in the photoelectron momentum distribution, whereas no signature of TWG is found when taking trajectories only from a single cycle.

physics.atom-ph

Momentum spectroscopy for multiple ionization of cold rubidium in the elliptically polarized laser field

Employing recent developed magneto-optical trap recoil ion momentum spectroscopy (MOTRIMS) combining cold atom, strong laser pulse, and ultrafast technologies, we study momentum distributions of the multiply ionized cold rubidium (Rb) induced by the elliptically polarized laser pulses (35 fs, $1.3 \times 10^{15}$ W/cm$^2$). The complete vector momenta of Rbn+ ions up to charge state n = 4 are recorded with extremely high resolution (0.12 a.u. for Rb$^+$). Variations of characteristic multi-bands displayed in momentum distributions, as the ellipticity varies from the linear to circular polarization, are interpreted qualitatively with the classical over-barrier ionization model. Present momentum spectroscopy of cold heavy alkali atoms presents novel strong-field phenomena beyond the noble gases.

physics.atom-ph

Dual-Color Laser Induced Terahertz Generation in Strong Field Approximation

The mechanism of the terahertz (THz) wave generation (TWG) in dual-color fields is elucidated within the theoretical framework of single-atom based strong field approximation (SFA). Evaluating the transition dipole moment, the continuum-continuum (CC) transition, rather than the continuum-bound recombination for the high-order harmonic generation, is confirmed to be the core mechanism of the TWG. The analytic form of the SFA-based CC description is consistent with the classical photoelectric current model, establishing the quantum-classical correspondence for the TWG. The theory is supported by parametric dependence of experimental THz yields calibrated by the joint measurement of the third-order harmonics. Present studies leave open the possibility of probing the ultrafast dynamics of continuum electron.

quant-ph

Applicability of coupling strength estimation for linear chains of restricted access

The characterization of an unknown quantum system requires the Hamiltonian identification. The full access to the system, however, is usually restricted, hindering the direct retrieval of relevant parameters, and a reliable indirect estimation is usually required. In this work, the algorithm proposed by Burgarth et al. [Phys. Rev. A 79, 020305 (2009)], which allows estimating the coupling strengths in a linear chain by addressing only one end site, is further investigated. The scheme is numerically studied for states with chain structure, exploring its applicability against observational errors including the limited signal-noise ratio and the finite spectral width. The spectral distribution of the end state is shown to determine the applicability of the method, and reducing the loss from truncated spectral components is critical to realizing the robust reconstruction of coupling strengths.

quant-ph

Ultrafast Mapping of Coherent Dynamics and Density Matrix Reconstruction in Terahertz-Assisted Laser Field

A time-resolved spectroscopic protocol exploiting terahertz-assisted photoionization is proposed to reconstruct transient density matrix. Population and coherence elements are effectively mapped onto spectrally separated peaks in photoionization spectra. The beatings of coherence dynamics can be temporally resolved beyond the pulse duration, and the relative phase between involved states is directly readable from the oscillatory spectral distribution. As demonstrated by a photo-excited multilevel open quantum system, the method shows potential applications for sub-femtosecond time-resolved measurements of coherent dynamics with free electron lasers and tabletop laser fields.

quant-ph

Microwave-controlled optical double optomechanically induced transparency in a hybrid piezo-optomechanical cavity system

We propose a scheme that is able to generate the microwave controlled optical double optome-chanical induced transparency (OMIT) in a hybrid piezo-optomechanical cavity system, which a piezoelectric optomechanical crystal AlN-nanobeam resonator is placed in a superconducting microwave cavity, and the AlN-nanobeam resonator can be simultaneously driven by both the optical field via the radiation pressure and the microwave field via the piezoelectric interaction. We show that in the presence of a strong pumped optical field applied to the optomechanical crystal cavity through the optical waveguide and an intensely stimulated microwave field applied to the superconducting microwave cavity, a double-OMIT window can be observed in the weak output probe field. The mechanism is that a N-type four-level system can be formed by the system, when two driving fields and a probe field are applied to the corresponding levels, under the effect of quantum interference between different energy level pathways, the third-order nonlinear absorption is enhanced by the constructive quantum interference while the linear absorption is inhibited by the destruc- tive quantum interference, as a result, the double-OMIT window is generated. Our scheme can be applied to realize high-speed optical switches, high-resolution spectroscopy, coherent population trapping or quantum information processing in the solid state quantum systems.

quant-ph

Dimerized Decomposition of Quantum Evolution on an Arbitrary Graph

The study of quantum evolution on graphs for diversified topologies is beneficial to modeling various realistic systems. A systematic method, the dimerized decomposition, is proposed to analyze the dynamics on an arbitrary network. By introducing global "flows" among interlinked dimerized subsystems, each of which locally consists of an input and a output port, the method provides an intuitive picture that the local properties of the subsystem are separated from the global structure of the network. The pictorial interpretation of quantum evolution as multiple flows through the graph allows for the analysis of the complex network dynamics supplementary to the conventional spectral method.

quant-ph

Sub-barrier Coulomb effects on the interference pattern in tunneling ionization photoelectron spectra

We use a quantum trajectory-based semi-classical method to account for Coulomb interaction between the photoelectron and the parent ion in the classically forbidden, sub-barrier region during strong-field tunneling ionization processes. We show that---besides the well-known modification of the tunneling ionization probability---there is also an influence on the interference pattern in the photoelectron spectra. In the long-wavelength limit, the shift of the intra-cycle interference fringes caused by sub-barrier Coulomb effects in the laser polarization direction can be derived analytically. We compare our results with \emph{ab initio} solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation and find good agreement in the long-wavelength regime, whereas the standard strong field approximation fails. We show that the nodal structure along low-order above-threshold ionization rings is also affected by sub-barrier Coulomb effects.

physics.atom-ph

Low-Energy Structures in Strong Field Ionization Revealed by Quantum Orbits

Experiments on atoms in intense laser pulses and the corresponding exact ab initio solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE) yield photoelectron spectra with low-energy features that are not reproduced by the otherwise successful work horse of strong field laser physics: the "strong field approximation" (SFA). In the semi-classical limit, the SFA possesses an appealing interpretation in terms of interfering quantum trajectories. It is shown that a conceptually simple extension towards the inclusion of Coulomb effects yields very good agreement with exact TDSE results. Moreover, the Coulomb quantum orbits allow for a physically intuitive interpretation and detailed analysis of all low-energy features in the semi-classical regime, in particular the recently discovered "low-energy structure" [C.I. Blaga et al., Nature Physics 5, 335 (2009) and W. Quan et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 093001 (2009)].

physics.atom-ph