Non-classical high harmonic generation in graphene driven by linearly-polarized laser pulses

Recent studies in high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in solid targets reveal new scenarios of extraordinary rich electronic dynamics, in comparison to the atomic and molecular cases. For the later, the main aspects of the process can be described semiclassically in terms of electrons that recombine when the trajectories revisit the parent ion. HHG in solids has been described by an analogous mechanism, in this case involving electron-hole pair recombinations. However, it has been recently reported that a substantial part of the HHG emission corresponds to situations where the electron and hole trajectories do not overlap in space. According to the present knowledge, HHG from this imperfect recollisions reflects the quantum nature of the process, arising in systems with large Berry curvatures or for elliptically polarized driving fields. In this work, we demonstrate that imperfect recollisions are also relevant in the more general case. We show the signature of such recollisions in the HHG spectrum from monolayer graphene-a system with null Berry curvature-irradiated by linearly polarized driving fields. Our calculations also reveal that imperfect multiple-order recollisions contribute to the harmonic emission when electron-hole excursion times exceed one cycle of the driving field. We believe that our work adds a substantial contribution to the full understanding of the sub-femtosecond dynamics of HHG in solid systems. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

Recent studies have shown that high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in solid targets exhibits rich electronic dynamics compared to atomic and molecular cases. The imperfect recollisions of electron-hole pairs play a significant role in HHG emission, reflecting the quantum nature of the process. This study demonstrates the signature of imperfect recollisions in monolayer graphene and highlights the contribution of imperfect multiple-order recollisions in the harmonic emission.