Intense CEO-stabilized few-cycle laser pulses from supercontinuum generation in filaments

A novel technique for the generation of intense few-cycle pulses is presented. Based on filamentation an intense CEO-stabilized 43-fs laser pulse yields a supercontinuum, supporting 1.8 fs pulses with a spectral range covering more than 600 THz. Chirped-mirror compression yields 5.7-fs pulses with 0.38 mJ energy in an excellent mode, with the CEO phase-lock being preserved.