Spatio-temporal control of ultra-short pulses by using diffractive optical elements

Diffractive optical elements (DOEs) have shown their applicability to control the spatio-temporal characteristics of ultra-short laser pulses. DOEs can provide high efficiency, compactness, very low material dispersion and, when implemented with spatial light modulators, real-time pulse engineering. In this communication, we report management of temporal and spectral profiles of ultra-short pulses by means of a quasi-direct space-to-time (QDST) pulse shaper. Moreover, we present spatio-temporal control, including dispersion compensation, by DOEs, and applications for activating nonlinear processes. On the other hand, we have achieved complete spatial control of ultra-short pulses, overcoming spatial chirp effects. The methods and experiments presented in this communication illustrate the capabilities of DOEs to control ultra-short laser pulses and their suitability for a variety of applications.