The improvement of techniques for the generation of near-infrared (NIR) few-cycle pulses is paving the way for new scenarios in time-resolved spectroscopy and the generation of ultrashort extreme-ultraviolet pulses through high-harmonic generation. In this work, we numerically study how to optimize the self-compression of NIR pulses using decreasing pressure gradients in hollow capillary fibers (HCFs). We identify a moderate nonlinear regime in which sub-cycle pulses are obtained with very good temporal quality from an input 30 fs pulse centered at a 800 nm wavelength and coupled as the fundamental mode of an argon-filled HCF fully evacuated at the output end. Surprisingly, we observe that there is a relatively broad region of parameters for which the optimum self-compression takes place, defined by a simple relation between the input pulse energy and the initial gas pressure.
Advances in the generation of the shortest optical laser pulses down to the sub-cycle regime promise to break new ground in ultrafast science. In this work, we theoretically demonstrate the potential scaling capabilities of soliton self-compression in hollow capillary fibers with a decreasing pressure gradient to generate near-infrared sub-cycle pulses in very different dispersion and nonlinearity landscapes. Independently of input pulse, gas and fiber choices, we present a simple and general route to find the optimal self-compression parameters which result in high-quality pulses. The use of a decreasing pressure gradient naturally favors the self-compression process, resulting in shorter and cleaner sub-cycle pulses, and an improvement in the robustness of the setup when compared to the traditional constant pressure approach.
We theoretically demonstrate an enhancement in the generation of clean, near-infrared sub-cycle laser pulses by soliton self-compression in gas-filled hollow capillary fibers using decreasing pressure gradients. Furthermore, we identify the optimal input parameters for high quality compression and the main advantages of this promising technique which paves the way towards ultrafast vacuum experiments.
We theoretically demonstrate the optimization of near-infrared sub-cycle pulse self-compression in gas-filled hollow capillary fibers using decreasing pressure gradients, identifying the optimal input parameters and the main advantages of this technique.
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