Abstract

Precise puise amplification and phase shaping of light spectra is an important issue in domains as varied as coherent control, ultra-intense light matter interaction or optically based telecommunications. For the latter applications it is however of interest to manipulate narrow band inside a broad band. Another example of phase modulation of narrow spectra is inertial fusion experiments which require both smoothed nanosecond pulses and efficient frequency third harmonic conversion. In the femtosecond pulses time domain, Fourier-transform optical or acousto-optical shapers are now widely used, but these methods are only applicable to large bandwidth pulses. With narrow spectra, only few methods allow fast shaping or modulation. Presently, the fastest phase modulation are based on integrated electro-optic technology, allowing typically 20 GHz frequency, while for more powerful laser beams bulk technology is available but limited well below this value. In this work, we have studied and demonstrated an all-optical amplitude and phase modulation scheme able to operate at frequencies above 100 GHz. This method relies on the adapted phase method which has previously allowed to efficiently generate narrow bandwidth second harmonic¹ and more recently fundamen tal or second harmonic programmable amplitude shaped pulses.²

© 2002 Optical Society of America