We investigate theoretically the effect of quantum confinement on high harmonic generation (HHG) in semiconductors by systematically varying the width of a model quantum nanowire. Our analysis reveals a reduction in ionization and a concurrent growth in HHG efficiency with increasing confinement. The drop in ionization results from an increase in the band gap due to stronger confinement. The increase in harmonic efficiency comes as a result of the confinement restricting the spreading of the transverse wave packet. As a result, intense laser driven 1D and 2D nanosystems present a potential pathway to increasing yield and photon energy of HHG in solids.

• Received 27 June 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.183902