Terawatt-level few-cycle mid-IR pulses through nonlinear self-compression in bulk

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a simple, scalable method for generating terawatt-level, few-cycle mid-infrared pulses using nonlinear self-compression in a YAG crystal, enabling high peak powers and atmospheric filamentation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, efficient technique for mid-IR pulse compression in bulk material without additional dispersion management, achieving sub-three-cycle pulses with over 0.65 TW peak power.

Findings

Achieved sub-three-cycle pulses at 3900 nm with >0.65 TW peak power.

Demonstrated mid-IR pulse filamentation in atmospheric air.

No additional dispersion management needed for compression.

Abstract

The physics of strong-field applications requires driver laser pulses that are both energetic and extremely short. Whereas optical amplifiers, laser and parametric, boost the energy, their gain bandwidth restricts the attainable pulse duration, requiring additional nonlinear spectral broadening to enable few or even single cycle compression and a corresponding peak power increase. In the mid-IR wavelength range that is critically important for scaling the ponderomotive energy in strong-field interactions, we demonstrate a remarkably simple energy-efficient and scalable soliton-like pulse compression in a mm-long YAG crystal with no additional dispersion management. Sub-three-cycle pulses with >0.65 TW peak power are compressed and extracted before the onset of modulation instability and multiple filamentation as a result of a favorable interplay between strong anomalous dispersion and optical nonlinearity around the wavelength of 3900 nm. As a striking manifestation of the increased peak power, we show the evidence of mid-infrared pulse filamentation in atmospheric air.