Interaction of relativistic electrons with an intense laser pulse: High-order harmonic generation based on Thomson scattering

We investigate nonlinear Thomson scattering as a source of high-order harmonic radiation with the potential to enable attosecond light pulse generation. We present a new analytic solution of the electron's relativistic equations of motion in the case of a short laser pulse with a sine-squared envelope. Based on the single electron emission, we compute and analyze the radiated amplitude and phase spectrum for a realistic electron bunch, with special attention to the correct initial values. These results show that the radiation spectrum of an electron bunch in head-on collision with a sufficiently strong laser pulse of sine-squared envelope has a smooth frequency dependence to allow for the synthesis of attosecond light pulses. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.