Coherent phonon frequency comb generated by few-cycle femtosecond pulses in Si

We explore the coherent phonon induced refractive index modulation of a Si(001) surface upon the excitation in near-resonance with the direct band gap of Si. Through the anisotropic e–h pair generation and coherent Raman scattering, ～ 10-fs laser pulses exert a sudden electrostrictive force on Si lattice launching coherent LO phonon oscillations at 15.6 THz frequency. The concomitant oscillatory change in the optical constants modulates the reflected probe light at the fundamental LO phonon frequency, generating a broad comb of frequencies at exact integer multiples of the fundamental frequency extending to beyond 100 THz. On the basis of an analytical model, we show that the simultaneous amplitude and phase modulation of the reflected light by the coherent lattice polarization at 15.6 THz generates the frequency comb.