Spatio-temporal processing of ultra-short pulses with micro optics

Abstract

Ultrashort pulses with time durations on the femtosecond scale can be suitably processed by microoptical devices. The temporal impulse response of an element is determined by its spatial structure, its action in the temporal domain can be conveniently described by its impulse response. All categories of elements can be used: refractive, diffractive and reflective. Here, the basic concepts are discussed and several examples for shaping and filtering short pulses are presented.