Intuitive identification of optimal few-to single-cycle pulse post-compression dynamics in hollow-core fibers using dispersion-scan

Intense few-to single-cycle pulses are a key tool for attosecond science and ultrafast spectroscopy, and are also enabling a new generation of compact laser-plasma accelerators [1], Achieving such short pulse durations is a challenging task as it requires not only the generation of very broad (potentially over octave-spanning) spectra but also the compensation of the spectral phase over such bandwidths, in order to get pulses as close as possible to their Fourier-transform limit. Presently, the most used scheme to obtain such pulses is gas-filled hollow-core fiber (HCF) post-compression of amplified multi-cycle pulses, where chirped mirrors are normally employed for dispersion compensation. In general, researchers optimize their HCF compressors by empirically adjusting several key parameters, such as gas type and pressure, input pulse characteristics and coupling conditions, with the final result usually involving a delicate compromise between output efficiency, amount of spectral broadening and achievable degree of compression (pulse duration and quality) for their particular system and chimed mirror set.