Control of the high harmonic generation spectra by changing the molecule-laser field relative orientation

The time dependent Schrödinger equation of a homonuclear diatomic molecule in the presence of a linearly polarized laser field is numerically solved by means of a split-operator parallel code. The calculations are carried out by assuming a single active electron model with fixed nuclei; a simplified two-dimensional model of the system is used. The highly nonlinear response of the electron wave function to the laser electric field stimulates the molecule to emit electromagnetic radiation consisting of a wide plateau of odd harmonics of the laser field. It is shown that the emitted spectrum can be finely controlled by changing the angle between the laser electric field and the molecular axis; this can be used to achieve a tunable source of high frequency radiation.