Abstract

The generation of the high harmonics of intense laser radiation is now a well-established laboratory technique. In a typical experiment, a rare gas interacting with laser radiation at intensities greater than 10¹³ W/cm² is found to emit light in odd multiples of the laser frequency. In these experiments the laser radiation and the scattered light are linearly polarized. Monochromatic circularly polarized laser light will not generate harmonics under these conditions. There are, however, compelling reasons for pursuing schemes that use circularly polarized light to generate high harmonics.

© 1993 Optical Society of America