Diffractive control of femtosecond pulses

We make a review of our main results in the field of femtosecond pulses diffracted by diffractive optical elements (DOEs). These results show how amplitude and/or phase DOEs can be used to change the spectral and temporal characteristics of the diffracted pulses. We experimentally demonstrate that shaped pulses diffracted by DOEs are useful in nonlinear optics or chemical applications.