Amplitude and phase control of ultrashort pulses by use of an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter: pulse compression and shaping

We demonstrate experimentally that an arbitrary phase and amplitude profile can be applied to an ultrashort pulse by use of an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter (AOPDF). Our filter has a large group-delay range that extends over 3 ps and a 30% diffraction efficiency over 150 THz. Experiments were conducted on a kilohertz chirped-pulse amplification laser chain capable of generating 30-fs pulses without additional pulse shaping. Compensating for gain narrowing and residual phase errors with an AOPDF in place of the stretcher results in 17-fs transform-limited pulses. Arbitrary shaping of these 17-fs pulses is also demonstrated in both the temporal and the spectral domains.     

Design of acousto–optic programmable filters in mercury halides for mid-infrared laser pulse shaping

Mercury halides acousto–optic programmable dispersive filters for direct laser pulse shaping in the mid-infrared are designed. Due to long wavelengths and low acoustic velocities in these materials, a new class of high resolution perpendicular diffraction devices is introduced.     

All-optical programmable shaping of narrow-band nanosecond pulses with picosecond accuracy by use of adapted chirps and quadratic nonlinearities

We experimentally demonstrate pure optical pulse picosecond shaping of narrow-bandwidth nanosecond pulses. The method used is based on the manipulation in the spectral domain of strongly chirped femtosecond pulses and on the use of either frequency addition or frequency difference.     

Generation of dark hollow beam by use of phase-only filtering

A simple but effective scheme to generate dark hollow beams is proposed by use of phase-only filtering and optical Fourier transform. A Gaussian beam of fundamental mode is modulated by a pre-designed phase mask, which is a piecewise modification of an axicon lens, and followed by a Fourier transform to generate an ideal dark hollow beam at the focal plane. This method has an advantage that the total energy of the beam is conserved under paraxial approximation. Numerical calculations are provided to show the validity of the proposed scheme.     

Intensity control of the focal spot by vectorial beam shaping

A vectorial beam shaping algorithm is presented for the design of a phase-only diffractive optical element to achieve a given target intensity profile in the focal plane under tight focusing conditions. The underlying iterative optimization scheme is based on the Richards-Wolf vectorial diffraction theory and the Gerchberg-Saxton method, and is suitable for an arbitrary incoming polarization distribution, since only the magnitudes of the field vectors in the focal plane are reshaped. The efficiency of the method is numerically demonstrated for flat-top beam shaping examples of linear and circular incoming beam polarizations and square and circular flat-top region shape. A diffraction efficiency of 97.1% and a uniformity error of 4.8% were achieved in the case of focusing a Gaussian input beam onto a 50λ × 50λ square flat-top region with a 1.4-NA lens.     

Variable focal lens controlled by an external voltage: An application of electrowetting

We use electrocapillarity in order to change the contact angle of a transparent drop, thus realizing a lens of variable focal length (B. Berge, J. Peseux, Patent deposited in Grenoble France, October 8th 1997, numéro d'enregistrement national 97 12781). The key point is the application of gradients of wettability, which control the shape of the drop edge, in our case a centered circle of variable radius. The quality and reversibility of the lens are surprisingly good. The optical power variation can be 5 to 10 times the one of the human eye, for a comparable diameter, with a typical response time of 0.03 s and a dissipated power of a few mW. Received 1 December 1999     

Arbitrary structuring of two-dimensional photonic crystals by use of phase-only Fourier gratings

The computer-generated holography technique is applied to the structuring of two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystals with inherently embedded arbitrary defects. The technique uses phase-only Fourier gratings as a generator of spot arrays in the focal plane, such that a single exposure produces a 2D array of focused spots with desired defects or modifications in the lattice structure. We demonstrate several types of large-area 2D lattice structures with square, hexagonal, or hybrid lattices embedded with point and (or) line defects. Scanning the Fourier plane in the depth direction throughout multiphoton polymerization media allows 3D lattices with stacked defect layers to be formed.     

High-rate pulse-train generation by phase-only filtering of an electrooptic frequency comb: Analysis and optimization

We investigate the generation of high-rate optical pulse trains by spectral phase-only filtering of a frequency comb derived from an electrooptically phase-modulated continuous-wave laser. The technique is initially analyzed as a two-step filtering process. First, a fundamental pulse-train with repetition-rate equal to the modulation frequency is obtained by line-by-line phase-cancellation of the electrooptic frequency comb. Second, the temporal Talbot-effect is considered so that the output pulse repetition-rate is an integer multiple of the electrooptic modulation frequency. Nonidealities found in the fundamental train lead, in general, to multiplied trains with important degradations. We numerically analyze optimum modulation conditions for generation of output pulse trains with minimum peak-to-peak variations and/or maximum extinction level. On the other hand, a genetic algorithm is considered to numerically find optimum line-by-line phase-only filters that generate output multiplied trains with minimized degradations. Numerical simulations show that, in general, this second approach allows for improvement in the quality of the resultant multiplied trains, in terms of the uniformity degree and/or noise-level, compared with the pulse trains resulting from the Talbot-effect-based approach.     

Time-domain interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction by use of an acousto-optic programmable filter and a two-photon detector

We introduce a new approach to the characterization of femtosecond optical pulses based on a remarkably simple setup combining a two-photon detector and a pulse shaper consisting of a longitudinal acousto-optic programmable filter. The operation of this setup is demonstrated through the use of a new version of spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction based on time-domain instead of on frequency-domain interferometry.     

Soliton optical phase control by use of in-line filters

We address the problem of soliton phase jitter caused by fiber amplifier noise in a communication channel. An analytical expression for phase jitter is derived by use of perturbation theory. In the absence of filters the variance of the phase is found to be proportional to the cube of the propagation distance, but it increases only linearly if in-line filters are used. We verify with simulations that in-line filters maintain the phase jitter at a level that is tolerable for transoceanic links.     

Multidimensional control of femtosecond pulses by use of a programmable liquid-crystal matrix

We report the automated generation of high-fidelity spatiotemporally shaped femtosecond pulses by use of an optically addressed, two-dimensional liquid-crystal spatial light modulator. A single input pulse was divided into many independent regions, and each region was shaped temporally. By changing the imaging geometry we accomplished either real-space or wave-vector shaping.     

Diffraction-limited laser beam shaping by use of computer-generated holograms with dislocations

A new method that reshapes a Gaussian laser beam into a polygon of diffraction-limited size with a flat or a pyramidal top is presented. The technique is based on the use of computer-generated holograms with phase dislocations (singularities).     

Nearly diffraction-limited laser focal spot obtained by use of an optically addressed light valve in an adaptive-optics loop

We demonstrate correction of laser wave-front distortions by use of an adaptive-optical technique based on a light valve. The setup consists of an achromatic and adjustable-sensitivity wave-front sensor and a wave-front corrector relying on an optically addressed liquid-crystal spatial light modulator. Experimental results with strongly aberrated beams focused close to the diffraction limit are presented for the cw regime. Additional experiments with pulses and measurement of damage thresholds show that this approach is relevant for spatial phase correction of ultraintense laser pulses.     

Control of soliton interactions by use of super-Gaussian sliding-frequency filters

We derived the theoretical results of soliton interactions in optical fiber with super-Gaussian slidingfrequency filters. The results demonstrate that the interactions between optical fiber solitons can be effectively suppressed by super-Gaussian sliding-frequency filters. And the results also show that the super-Gaussian filter with sliding is more effective in suppressing soliton interactions than that without sliding.     

Active spectral phase control by use of an acousto-optic programmable filter in high-repetition-rate sub-80 fs nonlinear fiber amplifiers

We report the generation of sub-80 fs pulses with energy in the 100 nJ range at 1050 nm and a repetition rate up to 164 kHz based on a nonlinear fiber amplification system combined with an active control of the spectral phase. This control is performed by an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter operated at a multiple of its acoustic repetition rate. This result opens up its possible use in highly nonlinear fiber chirped-pulse amplification setups.     

An automatic step-size adjustment algorithm for LMS adaptive filters,and an application to channel estimation

We propose a least-mean-square adaptive filter with automatic step-size adjustment (ASSA). At each time instant when a new observation of the input signal arrives, a new step-size parameter is chosen such that the sum of the squares of the measured estimation errors up to that current time instant is minimized. This step size, after being normalized by the power of the current tapped filter input, is used to update the filter weights for the next time instant. The filter weights are thus updated automatically without the aid of any preset control parameters. When applied to channel estimation, simulation results show the performance advantage of the ASSA algorithm over the existing step-size adjustment algorithms under different wireless channel environments.     

Ring fiber resonators based on fused-fiber grating add-drop filters:application to resonator coupling

We introduce a fiber ring optical resonator based on adiabatic fused-fiber grating couplers. The coupling of a through fiber to the resonator is controlled by the strength of the fiber Bragg gratings. By using two of these couplers and incorporating erbium-doped (ED) fiber in the ring, we control the internal loss of the ring by pumping the ED fiber. The transmission spectra of the through port and the drop port of a four-port configuration, a ring coupled to two waveguides, are measured. We show that the loss/coupling ratio of the ring-fiber system can be changed and thus that the transmission properties of the fiber can be controlled.     

Matching impedance of a nonuniform transmission line: application to cochlear modeling

A generalization of the concept of characteristic impedance to nonuniform transmission lines leads to an impedance having a local character. This matching impedance depends on the solution of the transmission line equations, and cannot generally be obtained in analytical form. However, when the propagation properties of the line vary only slowly (as is the case in cochlear macromechanics), a convenient analytical approximation of the matching impedance can be derived by means of the Liouville-Green method.     

The use of stability bands to improve the performance of quadrupole mass filters

The possibility of increasing the resolving power of quadrupole mass filters has been discussed. It has been shown that the limitations associated with the finite time of flight imposed by Von Zahn’s rule are modified while using the islands of stability that appear when quadrupole is excited by the additional signals. By calculation of the exponential increment of growth of the oscillation amplitude the effect of the acceleration of mass separation and improvement of the peak shape, when the islands of stability are used for ion filtering, is explained. The case of the excitation by two signals at different frequencies has been studied theoretically. The conditions under which suppression of the first order resonance for one of the directions of motion is obtained. The direct modeling of the peak shape of the mass filter shows the possibility of obtaining a resolution of 10,000 with a time of flight of ions through the quadrupole of 100 cycles of the main RF supply, and low sensitivity of the new operating mode to the nonlinear field distortions in the quadrupoles with rods of circular cross sections.