Ultraintense attosecond pulse emission from relativistic laser-plasma interaction

Abstract

We develop an analytical model for ultraintense attosecond pulse emission in the highly relativistic laser-plasma interaction. In this model, the attosecond pulse is emitted by a strongly compressed electron layer around the instant when the layer transverse current changes the sign and its longitudinal velocity approaches the maximum. The emitted attosecond pulse has a broadband exponential spectrum and a stabilized constant spectral phase. The waveform of the attosecond pulse is also given explicitly. We validate the analytical model via particle-in-cell simulations for both normal and oblique incidence. Based on this model, we highlight the potential to generate an isolated ultraintense phase-stabilized attosecond pulse.