We perform a detailed analysis of high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in atoms within the strong field approximation (SFA) by considering spatially inhomogeneous monochromatic laser fields. We investigate how the individual pairs of quantum orbits contribute to the harmonic spectra. We show that in the case of inhomogeneous fields the electron tunnels with two different canonical momenta. One of these momenta leads to a higher cutoff and the other one develops a lower cutoff. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the quantum orbits have a very different behavior in comparison to the homogeneous field. We also conclude that in the case of the inhomogeneous fields both odd and even harmonics are present in the HHG spectra. Within our model, we show that the HHG cutoff extends far beyond the standard semiclassical cutoff in spatially homogeneous fields. Our findings are in good agreement both with quantum-mechanical and classical models.

• Received 25 June 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.86.023408