Eur. Phys. J. D 11, 115-122 (2000)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s100530070111

Second harmonic generation in deposited clusters

¹ Physics Department, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
² GE CompuNet, Hörselbergstrasse 7, 81677 München, Germany
³ Laboratoire de Physique Quantique, Université Paul Sabatier, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex, France
⁴ Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Erlangen, Staudtstrasse 7, 91058 Erlangen, Germany

Received: 22 October 1999
Revised: 14 December 1999
Published online: 15 July 2000

Abstract

We analyse theoretically the generation of second and higher harmonics for sodium clusters deposited on an insulating surface. To this end, we use the time-dependent local-density approximation solved on a three-dimensional grid. We explore the impact of the various laser parameters (intensity, frequency, polarisation) on the efficiency of second harmonic generation. The success sensitively depends on a proper tuning of these parameters. We find optimum conditions for which the laser frequency is half the resonance frequency of the system, if the polarisation is directed orthogonal to the surface of the substrate, and if the intensity is large but safely below the critical value for destruction of the electron cloud.