Probing Phonon dynamics and Electron-Phonon Coupling by High Harmonic Generation in Solids

Abstract: Acting as a highly nonlinear response to the strong laser field, high harmonic generation (HHG) naturally contains the fingerprints of atomic and electronic properties of materials. Electronic properties of a solid such as band structure and topology can thus be probed, while the phonon dynamics during HHG are often neglected. Here we show that by exploiting the effects of phonon deformation on HHG, the intrinsic phonon information can be deciphered and direct probing of band- and mode-resolved electron-phonon couplings (EPC) of photoexcited materials is possible. Considering HHG spectroscopy can be vacuum free and unrestricted to electron occupation, this work suggests HHG is promising for all-optical characterization of EPC in solids, especially for gapped quantum states or materials under high pressure.