  The generation of few-cycle pulses with controlled waveforms in the
mid-infrared spectral region is a long-standing challenge but is expected to
enable a new generation of high-field physics experiments, uncovering intricate
physical phenomena. Successful generation of such optical pulses is limited by
the tremendous spectral width required to withstand few-cycle pulses in the
mid-IR correlated with the need to tightly control the spectral phase over such
a broad bandwidth. Here, we present the first demonstration of sub-three cycle
optical pulses at 3.1 \mu m central wavelength using for the first time
self-compression in the anomalous dispersion regime in bulk material. The
pulses emerging from this compact and efficient self-compression setup could be
focused to intensities exceeding 100 TW/cm^2, a suitable range for high field
physics experiments. Our experimental findings are corroborated by numerical
simulations using a 3D nonlinear propagation code, therefore providing
theoretical insight on the processes involved.
