Mette Gaarde, PhD
Mette Gaarde, Ph.D.

Mette Gaarde, PhD
ASSOCIATE Professor of Physics

Ph.D., 1997 - University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Louisiana State University
Department of Physics & Astronomy
222-C Nicholson Hall, Tower Dr.
Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4001
(225) 578-0889-Office

Research Interests

Theoretical Atomic and Optical Physics

My interest is primarily in the production of ultrafast coherent VUV and XUV light in the form of high order harmonics and attosecond pulses by a gas of atoms or molecules, and more generally the effects of propagating intense, ultrafast laser pulses through a macroscopic medium. I am particularly interested in the interplay between the microscopic strong field single-atom interactions and the macroscopic effects resulting from these interactions through classical non-linear optics and phase matching. To this end we solve the coupled, time-dependent Schr¨odinger equation and the Maxwell wave equation with sub-optical-cycle time resolution. This allows us to treat the laser field and the atomic potential on an equal footing, within the single active electron approximation, both at the single atom and at the macroscopic level.

I am also interested in the filamentation and self-compression of ultrafast laser pulses in gases, and in particular in the strong field processes that take place inside the filament.

Current and Selected Publications

  • Dylan C. Yost, Thomas R. Schibli, Jun Ye, Jennifer L. Tate, James Hostetter, Mette B. Gaarde, and Kenneth J. Schafer, "VUV frequency combs from below-threshold harmonics," to appear in Nature Physics (2009).

  • Mette B. Gaarde and Arnaud Couairon, "Intensity spikes in laser filamentation: diagnostics and application," Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 043901 (2009).

  • N. Dudovich, J. L. Tate, Y. Mairesse, D. M. Villeneuve, P. B. Corkum, and M. B. Gaarde, "Sub-cycle spatial mapping of re-col lision dynamics," Phys. Rev. A 80, 011806(R) (2009).

  • M. B. Gaarde, J. L. Tate, and K. J. Schafer, "Macroscopic aspects of attosecond pulse generation," Invited Topical Review, J. Phys. B 41, 132001 (2008).

  • M. B. Gaarde and K. J. Schafer, "Generating single attosecond pulses via spatial filtering, Optics Letters 31, 3188 (2006).

  • H. S. Chakraborty, M. B. Gaarde, and A. Couairon, "Single attosecond pulses from high harmonics driven by self-compressed filaments," Optics Letters 31, 3662 (2006).