  The interaction of coherent nonlinear structures (such as sub-cycle solitons,
electron vortices and wake Langmuir waves) with a strong wake wave in a
collisionless plasma can be exploited in order to produce ultra-short
electromagnetic pulses. The electromagnetic field of a coherent nonlinear
structure is partially reflected by the electron density modulations of the
incident wake wave and a single-cycle high-intensity electromagnetic pulse is
formed. Due to the Doppler effect the length of this pulse is much shorter than
that of the coherent nonlinear structure. This process is illustrated with
two-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations. The considered laser-plasma
interaction regimes can be achieved in present day experiments and can be used
for plasma diagnostics.
