Quantum decoherence in high-order harmonic generation from solids

For the high-order harmonic generation (HHG) from solids, the dephasing process induced by many-body interactions has been discussed extensively in the studies of using the semiconductor Bloch equations (SBEs). However, the role of dephasing in solid HHG is always ignored in the simulations of using a time-dependent Schrodinger equation under the independent electron approximation. To solve this problem, we introduce the imaginary potential to phenomenologically depict the dephasing process in the solid HHG. Compared with the results of experiment and SBEs, the validity of this approach has been verified by the laser intensity- and wavelength-dependent HHG spectra. Diffusion of the quantum wave packet controls the time-frequency characteristic in solid HHG. To obtain semiclassical trajectories whose predictions are consistent with the quantum simulations, we propose an open-trajectory model by relaxing the zero displacement condition in the tunneling and recollision steps. In addition, the quantum decoherence adjusts the chirp of the emission time profile via modulating the coherent overlap between recombined wave packets, which further paves a way to generate an attosecond pulse from solids and probe the dephasing time via the high-harmonic spectroscopy.

Automated summary

The study introduces an imaginary potential to phenomenologically depict the dephasing process in solid HHG, and verifies its validity through comparison with experimental results and SBEs. Diffusion of the quantum wave packet controls the time-frequency characteristic in solid HHG, while the open-trajectory model provides consistent trajectory predictions with quantum simulations.