Generation of Bright Isolated Attosecond Soft X-Ray Pulses Driven by Multi-Cycle Mid-Infrared Lasers

High harmonic generation driven by femtosecond lasers makes it possible to capture the fastest dynamics in molecules and materials. However, to date the shortest attosecond (as) pulses have been produced only in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region of the spectrum below 100 eV, which limits the range of materials and molecular systems that can be explored. Here we use advanced experiment and theory to demonstrate a remarkable convergence of physics: when mid-infrared lasers are used to drive the high harmonic generation process, the conditions for optimal bright soft X-ray generation naturally coincide with the generation of isolated attosecond pulses. The temporal window over which phase matching occurs shrinks rapidly with increasing driving laser wavelength, to the extent that bright isolated attosecond pulses are the norm for 2 μm driving lasers. Harnessing this realization, we demonstrate the generation of isolated soft X-ray attosecond pulses at photon energies up to 180 eV for the first time, that emerge as linearly chirped 300 as pulses with a transform limit of 35 as. Most surprisingly, we find that in contrast to as pulse generation in the EUV, long-duration, multi-cycle, driving laser pulses are required to generate isolated soft X-ray bursts efficiently, to mitigate group velocity walk-off between the laser and the X-ray fields that otherwise limit the conversion efficiency. Our work demonstrates a clear and straightforward approach for robustly generating bright attosecond pulses of electromagnetic radiation throughout the soft X ray region of the spectrum.