Generating single attosecond pulses via spatial filtering

Mette B. Gaarde, Louisiana State University
Kenneth J. Schafer, Louisiana State University

Abstract

The first observation of isolated attosecond pulses by Hentschel et al. [Nature 414, 509 (2001)] resulted from an experiment that left the exact mechanism of their generation unresolved. A complete simulation of the experiment reveals the reason for its success: single pulses were efficiently isolated from two or more generated pulses by spatial filtering in the far field. Our explanation suggests a new, simple paradigm for the production of isolated attosecond bursts. We show that this method can be used, in conjunction with carrier-envelope phase stabilization, to select single attosecond pulses by use of 10 fs driving pulses. © 2006 Optical Society of America.