Shaping optical pulses by amplitude and phase masking

A pulse shaper to produce an output pulse from an input optical pulse which comprises:

• a first optical component having a substantially zero group velocity dispersion that spatially disperses the frequency components of the input optical pulse,
• a spatial amplitude and/or phase mask disposed to control and/or adjust the amplitude and/or phase of the spatially dispersed frequency components, and
• a second optical component having a substantially zero group velocity dispersion that returns the masked frequency components substantially to the spatial distribution of the input oroup velocity dispersion that returns the masked frequency components substantially to the spatial distribution of the input optical pulse to form the output pulse.

A pulse shaper to produce an output pulse from an input optical pulse which comprises:

• a first optical component having a substantially zero group velocity dispersion that spatially disperses the frequency components of the input pulse,
• a spatial amplitude and/or phase mask disposed to control and/or adjust the amplitude and/or phase of the spatially dispersed frequency components, and
• a second optical component disposed to redirect the masked frequency components back into the first optical component, whereby the masked spatially dispersed frequency components are returned substantially to the spatial distribution of the input optical pulse to form the output pulse.

A pulse shaper to produce an output pulse from an input optical pulse which comprises:

• a first optical component having a group velocity dispersion of a first sign and first magnitude that spatially disperses the frequency components of the input optical pulse,
• a spatial amplitude and/or phase mask disposed to control and/or adjust the amplitude and/or phase of the spatially dispersed frequency components, and
• a second optical component having a group velocity dispersion with opposite sign to the first sign and a magnitude substantially equal to the first magnitude that returns the masked frequency components substantially to the spatial distribution of the input optical pulse to form the output pulse.