Carrier-envelope-phase insensitivity in high-order harmonic generation driven by few-cycle laser pulses

We present evidence for self-stabilization of the relative spectral phase of high-order harmonic emission against intensity variations of the driving field. Our results demonstrate that, near the laser focus, phase matching of the harmonic field from a macroscopic target can compensate for the intensity dependence of the intrinsic phase of the harmonics emitted by a single radiator. As a consequence, we show experimentally and theoretically the insensitivity of the harmonic spectra produced at the laser focus against variations of the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of a sub-two-cycle driving field. In addition, the associated attosecond pulse trains exhibit phase locking against CEP changes of the few-cycle driver. (C) 2015 Optical Society of Americ