DiMauro/Agostini group published in Nature Physics
Frequency up-conversion and the ability to manipulate light from the interaction of intense laser pulses with matter was first demonstrated in the early 1960's and has remained one of the most vigorously pursued sub-fields of modern optics with applications spanning basic research and technology. Dr. Anthony DiChiara and physics graduate student, Emily Sistrunk, both members of the DiMauro/Agostini group at OSU, demonstrated a new physical regime for frequency up-conversion by the interaction of an intense low-frequency laser pulse with a perfect zinc-oxide crystal. Their study shows that a high frequency ultraviolet comb emerges due to the periodic Bloch oscillations of the crystalline structure driven by a strong low frequency field. The work was performed in the OSU ultra-fast atomic physics laboratories in collaboration with Prof. David Reis and Dr. Shambhu Ghimire from the PULSE Institute at Stanford University/SLAC National Laboratory. The DiMauro/Agostini group has pioneered the development and application of intense, low frequency laser sources that made this discovery possible. The article entitled "Observation of high-order harmonic generation in a bulk crystal" was published online on December 5, 2010 in Nature Physics. The image is courtesy on Greg Stewart/SLAC.
