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Strong-field phenomena in optical nanostructures have enabled the integration of nanophotonics, plasmonics and attosecond spectroscopy. For example, tremendous excitement was sparked by reports of nanostructure-enhanced high-harmonic generation. However, there is growing tension between the great promise held by extreme-ultraviolet and attosecond-pulse generation on the nanoscale, and the lack of successful implementations. Here, we address this problem in a study of highly nonlinear optical processes in gas-exposed bow-tie nanoantennas. We find multiphoton- and strong-field-induced atomic excitation and ionization resulting in extreme-ultraviolet fluorescence, as well as third- and fifth-harmonic generation intrinsic to the nanostructures. Identifying the intensity-dependent spectral fingerprint of atomic fluorescence, we gauge local plasmonic fields. Whereas intensities sufficient for high-harmonic generation are indeed achieved in the near-field, the nanoscopic volume is found to prohibit an efficient conversion. Our results illustrate opportunities and challenges in highly nonlinear plasmonics and its extension to the extreme ultraviolet. It has been suggested that plasmonic nanostructures could boost nonlinear optical processes in atoms. However, an incomplete understanding of the complex physics in such systems has hampered attempts to harness this idea in applications. An in-depth study now shows that phenomena such as high-harmonic generation might in fact be limited by the tiny volumes involved at the nanoscale.

We introduce ultrafast low-energy electron diffraction (ULEED) in backscattering for the study of structural dynamics at surfaces. Using a tip-based source of ultrashort electron pulses, we investigate the optically driven transition between charge density wave phases at the surface of 1T-TaS2. The large transfer width of the instrument allows us to employ spot-profile analysis, resolving the phase-ordering kinetics in the nascent incommensurate charge density wave phase. We observe a coarsening that follows a power-law scaling of the correlation length, driven by the annihilation of dislocation-type topological defects of the charge-ordered lattice. Our work opens up the study of a wide class of structural transitions and ordering phenomena at surfaces and in low-dimensional systems.

Arising from S. Kim et al. Nature453, 757–760 (2008)10.1038/nature07012 ; Kim et al. reply Plasmonic nanostructures offer unique possibilities for enhancing linear and nonlinear optical processes 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 . Recently, Kim et al. 7 reported nanostructure-enhanced high harmonic generation (HHG). Here, using nearly identical conditions, we demonstrate extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) emission from gas-exposed nanostructures, but come to entirely different conclusions: instead of HHG, we observe line emission of neutral and ionized gas atoms. We also discuss fundamental physical aspects limiting nanostructure-based HHG.

Despite experiments with numerous high-quality samples of different dimensions (displaying efficient third harmonic generation), optimizations of gas nozzle dimensions, materials and orientations, as well as gas pressures, we have only observed atomic and ionic line emission and were able to reproduce our findings multiple times. [...]together with the physical arguments given above, we must conclude that very efficient HHG in bow-tie nanostructures under the given conditions is highly unlikely, if not physically impossible. [...]the photon count rates in our experiments did not exceed several thousand per second using an imaging detector and obtaining a signal to noise ratio of ,103. [...]the line emission observed in our experiments originates from nanostructure-enhanced multiphoton and strong-field excitation and ionization, and is intrinsically incoherent. [...]the fundamental physical relations discussed above imply important limitations on nanostructure-enhanced HHG, which calls for alternative approaches.

The advent of high-harmonic generation in gases 30 years ago set the foundation for attosecond science and facilitated ultrafast spectroscopy in atoms, molecules, and solids. We explore high-harmonic generation in the solid state by means of nanostructured and ion-implanted semiconductors. We use wavelength-selective microscopic imaging to map enhanced harmonic emission and show that the generation medium and the driving field can be locally tailored in solids by modifying the chemical composition and morphology. This enables the control of high-harmonic technology within precisely engineered solid targets. We demonstrate customized high-harmonic wave fields with wavelengths down to 225 nanometers (ninth-harmonic order of 2-micrometer laser pulses) and present an integrated Fresnel zone plate target in silicon, which leads to diffraction-limited self-focusing of the generated harmonics down to 1-micrometer spot sizes.

We report the national data on the outcomes of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for thalassemia major (TM) patients in Turkey on behalf of the Turkish Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation Group. We retrospectively enrolled 1469 patients with TM who underwent their first HSCT between 1988 and 2020 in 25 pediatric centers in Turkey. The median follow-up duration and transplant ages were 62 months and 7 years, respectively; 113 patients had chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD) and the cGVHD rate was 8.3% in surviving patients. Upon the last visit, 30 patients still had cGvHD (2.2%). The 5-year overall survival (OS), thalassemia-free survival (TFS) and thalassemia-GVHD-free survival (TGFS) rates were 92.3%, 82.1%, and 80.8%, respectively. cGVHD incidence was significantly lower in the mixed chimerism (MC) group compared to the complete chimerism (CC) group (p < 0.001). In survival analysis, OS, TFS, and TGFS rates were significantly higher for transplants after 2010. TFS and TGFS rates were better for patients under 7 years and at centers that had performed over 100 thalassemia transplants. Transplants from matched unrelated donors had significantly higher TFS rates. We recommend HSCT before 7 years old in thalassemia patients who have a matched donor for improved outcomes.