Self-compression to sub-3-cycle duration of mid-infrared optical pulses in bulk

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the generation of sub-3-cycle mid-infrared pulses at 3.1 μm through self-compression in bulk material, enabling high-intensity pulses suitable for advanced physics experiments.

Contribution

It is the first to achieve sub-three cycle pulses in the mid-IR via self-compression in bulk, combining experimental demonstration with numerical simulations.

Findings

Generated sub-3-cycle pulses at 3.1 μm

Pulses can be focused to >100 TW/cm^2

Experimental results supported by 3D nonlinear simulations

Abstract

The generation of few-cycle pulses with controlled waveforms in the mid-infrared spectral region is a long-standing challenge but is expected to enable a new generation of high-field physics experiments, uncovering intricate physical phenomena. Successful generation of such optical pulses is limited by the tremendous spectral width required to withstand few-cycle pulses in the mid-IR correlated with the need to tightly control the spectral phase over such a broad bandwidth. Here, we present the first demonstration of sub-three cycle optical pulses at 3.1 \mu m central wavelength using for the first time self-compression in the anomalous dispersion regime in bulk material. The pulses emerging from this compact and efficient self-compression setup could be focused to intensities exceeding 100 TW/cm^2, a suitable range for high field physics experiments. Our experimental findings are corroborated by numerical simulations using a 3D nonlinear propagation code, therefore providing theoretical insight on the processes involved.