Soliton-effect pulse compression in the single-cycle regime in broadband dielectric-coated metallic hollow waveguides

We study soliton-effect pulse compression in the single-cycle region in dielectric-coated metallic hollow waveguides filled with a noble gas exploiting the broad region of anomalous dispersion in these waveguides. We predict the compression of a 20-fs pulse to a FWHM duration of 1.7 fs with an energy of 6 mu J and study the physical factors determining the limitations on shortest pulses in the single-cycle regime. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America