Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 175, 43-48 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2009-01115-6

High-order harmonic generation from plasma mirrors

¹ Service des Photons, Atomes et Molécules, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique, DSM/DRECAM, CEN Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
² Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses, CNRS, École Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau, France

Corresponding author: fabien.quere@cea.fr

Abstract

We discuss the two mechanisms involved in high-order harmonic generation from plasma mirrors, and show that they can be clearly identified experimentally. The very different phase properties of the corresponding harmonics lead to light beams with different divergences. This can be exploited to select a particular type of harmonic by spatial filtering in the far-field.