ИСТИНА

Motivated and driven by numerous applications and long-standing challenges in strong-field physics, molecular spectroscopy, semiconductor electronics, and standoff detection, ultrafast optical science is rapidly expanding toward longer wavelengths. Recent experiments reveal unique properties of filaments induced by ultrashort laser pulses in the mid-infrared, where the generation of powerful supercontinuum radiation is accompanied by unusual scenarios of optical harmonic generation, giving rise to remarkably broad radiation spectra, stretching from the visible to the mid-infrared. Generation of few- and even single-cycle mid-infrared field waveforms with peak powers ranging from a few megawatts to hundreds of gigawatts has been demonstrated within a broad range of central wavelengths. Below-the-bandgap highorder harmonics generated by ultrashort mid-infrared laser pulses are shown to be ideally suited to probe the nonlinearities of electron bands, enabling an all-optical mapping of the electron band structure in bulk solids. This lecture will provide an overview of exciting new physics behind the recent achievements in this rapidly growing area of ultrafast optical science.