Scattering of a few-cycle laser pulse on a thin metal layer: the effect of the carrier-envelope phase difference

On the basis of classical electrodynamics the reflection and transmission of a few‐cycle femtosecond Ti:Sa laser pulse impinging on a thin metal layer have been analysed. The thickness of the layer was assumed to be much smaller than the skin depth of the radiation field, and the metallic electrons were represented by a surface current density. The interaction of the electrons with a periodic lattice potential has also been taken into account. The presence of this nonlinear potential leads to the appearance of higher harmonics in the scattered spectra. A formal exact solution has been given for the system of the coupled Maxwell‐Lorentz equations describing the dynamics of the surface current and the radiation field. Besides, an analytic solution was found in the strong field approximation for the Fourier components of the reflected and transmitted radiation. In our analysis particular attention has been paid to the role of the carrierenvelope phase difference of the incoming few‐cycle laser pulse. Shows the dependence on the carrier‐envelope phase difference of the reflected flux of a two‐cycle Ti:Sa laser pulse at the first relative minimum of the spectrum (v = 1.5) (© 2004 by HMS Consultants. Inc. Published exclusively by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co.KGaA)