Self-compression of femtosecond laser pulses in ambient air through conical radiation

We demonstrate self-compression of 98 fs near-infrared laser pulses down to 8.8 fs in ambient air, utilizing self-phase modulation in air and negative dispersion in the properties of a laser-induced plasma. The blueshifted pulses achieve self-compression through conical radiation, eliminating the need for additional dispersion compensation. The results highlight a simple and compact approach to generate sub-10 fs laser pulses without additional measures for time-resolved applications in ultrafast diagnostics and spectroscopy. (c) 2023 Optica Publishing Group

Automated summary

In this study, we demonstrate the self-compression of near-infrared laser pulses down to 8.8 fs in ambient air using self-phase modulation in air and negative dispersion in laser-induced plasma. The compressed pulses are achieved through conical radiation, eliminating the need for additional dispersion compensation. This offers a simple and compact approach to generate sub-10 fs laser pulses for time-resolved applications in ultrafast diagnostics and spectroscopy.