Adaptive pulse compressor

An adaptive optical pulse compressor, comprising:

• an input port for receiving an input pulse having a duration of the order of femtoseconds;
• an output port for delivering an output pulse, said output pulse being obtained by compression of said input pulse;
• an optical pulse measurement device for determining the intensity of said output pulse;
• and
• a pulse shaper for modifying said input pulse by means of an iterative procedure, according to a feedback signal obtained from said intensity of said output pulse.

An adaptive optical pulse compressor for compressing input pulses into output pulses of shorter duration, comprising;

• a programmable pulse shaper;
• optical apparatus for providing a feedback signal dependent on the intensity of said output pulses;
• and
• a computing system operative to control the programmable pulse shaper according to said feedback signal;
• wherein said programmable pulse shaper comprises:
• an input dispersive device for spatially separating frequency components of said input pulse;
• a programmable spatial light modulator;
• a focusing element for focusing said spatially separated frequency components onto said programmable spatial light modulator;
• a focusing element for collimating said spatially separated frequency components after transmission through said programmable spatial light modulator;
• and
• an output dispersive device for recombining said spatially separated frequency components outputted from said programmable spatial light modulator.