Generation and Bistability of a Waveguide Nanoplasma Observed by Enhanced Extreme-Ultraviolet Fluorescence
arXiv:1304.0034 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.085001
Abstract
We present a study of the highly nonlinear optical excitation of noble gases in tapered hollow waveguides using few-femtosecond laser pulses. The local plasmonic field enhancement induces the generation of a nanometric plasma, resulting in incoherent extreme-ultraviolet fluorescence from optical transitions of neutral and ionized xenon, argon, and neon. Despite sufficient intensity in the waveguide, high-order harmonic generation is not observed. The fluorescent emission exhibits a strong bistability manifest as an intensity hysteresis, giving strong indications for multistep collisional excitations.
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