Microwave frequency-comb generation in a tunneling junction by intermode mixing of ultrafast laser pulses

We present a method for hyper-spectral characterization of the nonlinear effects in a tunneling junction. Harmonics up to 1 GHz were measured in a frequency comb in the tunneling current when 15-fs laser pulses at a repetition rate of 74.25 MHz were focused on the tunneling junction of a scanning tunneling microscope. The typical output power is -120 dBm at the fundamental frequency, which is the pulse repetition rate and decreases by several dB for the higher harmonics. The observed square-law dependence of the signal power on the tunneling current and incident laser power is in good agreement with theoretical predictions.