Harmonic generation by atoms in circularly polarized laser fields: far-off and near resonances regimes

Abstract

The generation of harmonics by atoms interacting with two circularly polarized and frequency related laser fields is addressed through ab initio numerical simulations. A detailed charaterization of a few specific harmonics is given. In particular, the two different cases where the total energy absorbed through photons is far-off or close to the energy gap between different atomic states are investigated. It is found that the conversion efficiency in the harmonic generation is strongly dependent on the inner atomic structure and in certain specific cases it can be significantly enhanced within a small frequency range.