Propagation Simulation Frameworks for Nonperturbative Nonlinear Optics in Bulk Solids

Intense, few-cycle light pulses propagating through a medium will couple with the microscopic polarization of that medium and induce strong nonlinear interactions which alter the characteristics of the light. The complex nature of the many competing nonlinear processes which may occur in extended periodic solids under such high fields necessitates accurate modeling and simulation methods to interpret experimental data and provide physical intuition. We therefore seek to systematically evaluate numerical approaches to simulating nonperturbative nonlinear optics, including high harmonic generation and ultrafast photoinjection, in bulk semiconductors and insulators under different material and driving laser parameters. Wave propagation is implemented through the Lightwave Explorer software. The microscopic polarization response described by the semiconductor Bloch equations is compared with the response predicted by a Drude-Lorentz model. Material properties required for the semiconductor Bloch equation parameters are calculated using density functional theory implemented in the Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package (VASP). The resulting insights into propagation of light undergoing nonperturbative nonlinear interactions through bulk solids are prerequisite to connecting experimental observations of transient material properties to the underlying microscopic mechanism.