Electron Backscattering Assists Solid Harmonic Generation From Bilayer Infrastructure

In the framework of time-dependent density functional theory, we find a much extended high-order harmonic generation from bilayer crystals with large interlayer spacing of several nanometers. An ultrafast strong laser with grazing incidence to such kind of infrastructures leads to a clear double-plateau structure in harmonic spectrum. Traditional three-step model fails in interpreting the second plateau of photon energy far beyond atomic-like harmonics. Here, we propose a four-step model which includes the backscattering of the ionized electrons to understand the cutoff extension, and our classical model well explains this backscattering process. Moreover, the cutoff is continuously extended with increasing the interlayer spacing of planar crystals and the conversion efficiency in the second plateau is significantly enhanced by driving laser with longer wavelengths. This work thus establishes a novel and efficient way to produce high-energy light source up to soft X-ray region at nanoscale, which could be utilized as a compact platform for attosecond photonics.