Characterizing Anomalous High-Harmonic Generation in Solids

Anomalous high-harmonic generation (HHG) arises in certain solids when irradiated by an intense laser field, originating from a Berry-curvature-induced perpendicular anomalous current. The observation of pure anomalous harmonics is, however, often prohibited by contamination from harmonics stemming from interband coherences. Here, we fully characterize the anomalous HHG mechanism, via development of an ab initio methodology for strong-field laser-solid interaction that allows a rigorous decomposition of the total current. We identify two unique properties of the anomalous harmonic yields: an overall yield increase with laser wavelength; and pronounced minima at certain laser wavelengths and laser intensities around which the spectral phases drastically change. Such signatures can be exploited to disentangle the anomalous harmonics from competing HHG mechanisms, and thus pave the way for the experimental identification and time-domain control of pure anomalous harmonics, as well as reconstruction of Berry curvatures.