Resonant high-order harmonic generation from plasma ablation: Laser intensity dependence of the harmonic intensity and phase

Experimentally observed strong enhancement of a single high-order harmonic in harmonic generation from low-ionized laser plasma ablation is explained as resonant harmonic generation. The resonant harmonic intensity increases regularly with the increase of the laser intensity, while the phase of the resonant harmonic is almost independent of the laser intensity. This is in sharp contrast with the usual plateau and cutoff harmonics, the intensity of which exhibits wild oscillations while its phase changes rapidly with the laser intensity. The temporal profile of a group of harmonics, which includes the resonant harmonic, has the form of a broad peak in each laser-field half cycle. These characteristics of resonant harmonics can have an important application in attoscience. We illustrate our results using examples of Sn and Sb plasmas.