Gauge invariance and the interpretation of inter- and intraband processes in high-order harmonic generation from bulk solids

A theoretical model for high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in bulk solids is considered. Our approach treats laser-induced inter- and intraband currents on an equal footing. The sum of these currents is the source of the high-order harmonic radiation, and does not depend on the particular electromagnetic gauge we choose to describe the process. On the other hand, as it is shown using analytic and numerical calculations, the distinction between intra- and interband dynamics is gauge dependent, implying that the interpretation of the process of HHG using these terms requires carefulness.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Oscillating spin-orbit interaction as a source of spin-polarized wave packets in two-terminal nanoscale devices

Ballistic transport through nanoscale devices with time-dependent Rashba-type spin-orbit interaction (SOI) can lead to spin-polarized wave packets that appear even for completely unpolarized input. The SOI that oscillates in a finite domain generates density and spin polarization fluctuations that leave the region as propagating waves. Particularly, spin polarization has space and time dependence even in regions without SOI. Our results are based on an analytic solution of the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation. The relevant Floquet quasi-energies that are obtained appear in the energy spectrum of both the transmitted and reflected waves.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures (IOP preprint style); v2: 15 pages and 6 figures. Subsec. 3.4, a figure and new references have been adde

Correlations between the final momenta of electrons and their initial phase-space distribution in the process of tunnel ionization

We present both full quantum mechanical and semiclassical calculations of above threshold ionization (ATI) of a hydrogen atom in the tunneling regime by a few-cycle linearly polarized infrared laser pulse. As a quantum treatment, we applied the direct integration of the time dependent Schr\"odinger equation (TDSE). In the semiclassical approximation (SCA), it is assumed that wavepacket propagation in the post-tunneling process can be well described within the classical framework. With these two methods, we analyze the similarities and deviations for ionization of the hydrogen atom. We found that the 3 dimensional semiclassical method can describe reasonably well the momentum correlation pattern of the ATI peaks. We also show good agreement between the results obtained by TDSE method and the semi-classical method. Furthermore, with the semiclassical approximation we clearly identify and separate the regions in momentum distributions of the ejected electrons according to initial conditions. We illustrate the corresponding regions with typical electron trajectories.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

The effect of dynamical Bloch oscillations on optical-field-induced current in a wide gap dielectric

We consider the motion of charge carriers in a bulk wide-gap dielectric interacting with a few-cycle laser pulse. A semiclassical model based on Bloch equations is applied to describe the emerging time-dependent macroscopic currents for laser intensities approaching the damage threshold. At such laser intensities, electrons can reach edges of the first Brillouin zone even for electron-phonon scattering rates as high as those known for SiO_2. We find that, whenever this happens, Brag-like reflections of electron waves, also known as Bloch oscillations, affect the dependence of the charge displaced by the laser pulse on its carrier-envelope phase.Comment: This version corrects a mistake in the paper published by the New Journal of Physics: panel (a) of Fig. 9 depicts -s(t_0=0) rather than s(t_0=0