Single-step self-compression of ultrashort pulses below 20 fs by all-fiber supercontinuum generation

Abstract

We present an ultrashort-pulsed laser source with time-widths as short as 20 fs at around 1.5 µm. For this purpose, the pulses have been spectrally broadened and temporarily compressed by means of supercontinuum generation in a highly nonlinear optical fiber. Inspired by numerical simulations, we have experimentally confirmed that the emission of a resonant dispersive wave is a key indicator for the optimum configuration to achieve maximum temporal compression. No dispersion control stage is needed, which results in the simplicity of the system. An extensive analysis has been made concerning the quality of the pulses obtained, particularly in terms of time-width (at half height and at 1/e height of the maximum) as well as their time-bandwidth product. The complex retrieval of the pulses shows that the smallest temporal width obtained experimentally is 17 fs. A comparison with values found in the literature also shows that our pulses are among the best that can be found with this technology.