Frequency mixing in boron carbide laser ablation plasmas

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Two-color frequency mixing has been studied in a laser ablation boron carbide plasma. • A space- and time-resolved study mapped the nonlinear optical species in the plasma. • The nonlinear process maximizes when charge recombination is expected to be completed. • Neutral atoms and small molecules are the main nonlinear species in this medium. • Evidence points to six-wave mixing as the most likely process. - Abstract: Nonlinear frequency mixing induced by a bichromatic field (1064 nm + 532 nm obtained from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser) in a boron carbide (B₄C) plasma generated through laser ablation under vacuum is explored. A UV beam at the frequency of the fourth harmonic of the fundamental frequency (266 nm) was generated. The dependence of the efficiency of the process as function of the intensities of the driving lasers differs from the expected behavior for four-wave mixing, and point toward a six-wave mixing process. The frequency mixing process was strongly favored for parallel polarizations of the two driving beams. Through spatiotemporal mapping, the conditions for maximum efficiency were found for a significant delay from the ablation event (200 ns), when the medium is expected to be a low-ionized plasma. No late components of the harmonic signal were detected, indicating a largely atomized medium