8-fs pulses from a compact Er:fiber system: quantitative modeling and experimental implementation.

We demonstrate an all-fiber turnkey source of extremely stable 2-cycle pulses at a center wavelength of 1.17 microm. Taylor-cut highly nonlinear germano-silica bulk fibers (HNFs) provide smooth supercontinua with a bandwidth of 560 nm and a spectral shape precisely controlled by the dispersion of the fiber and the phase of the 1.55 microm pump pulses. Alternatively these fibers are capable of generating pulses with central wavelengths continuously tunable from 0.9 microm up to 1.4 microm. These results are based on parameter-free simulations of nonlinear pulse propagation including higher-order dispersion as well as instantaneous Kerr and retarded Raman contributions.