Experimental observation of anomalous high harmonics at low intensities

A variety of complex phenomena occurs when an ultra-short laser pulse interacts with atoms in the 1013 W/cm2 range: non-sequential ionisation, electron recollision, and Freeman resonances. We show that high-harmonic spectra obtained experimentally in this parameter range also display anomalous features, which are difficult to understand in the framework of the three-step, semiclassical model. The results of a systematic study of these high harmonics generated in argon, xenon, and krypton are presented. From the experimental curves, complex high-order harmonic generation phenomena are discussed.