title: Ultrashort pulses from the soliton laser.
abstract: We report the production of 50-fsec FWHM pulses directly from the soliton laser and 19-fsec pulses with compression in an external fiber. The 19-fsec FWHM corresponds to just under four optical cycles at the laser wavelength of 1.5 microm. We argue that these limits are set by dispersion properties of the control and compression fibers.
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Mitschke
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Mollenauer