title: Generation of high-energy few-cycle laser pulses by using the ionization-induced self-compression effect.
abstract: A mechanism behind the ionization-induced self-compression effect for ultrashort laser pulses propagating in gas-filled capillaries is proposed. It is shown that as a result of excitation of the nonlinear-plasma waveguide laser pulses producing gas ionization can be self-compressed to few-cycle duration. This effect is used for high-energy laser pulses and its scalability to J-level energies is demonstrated.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Skobelev
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Willi