Line-by-line pulse shaping with spectral resolution below 890 MHz.

Line-by-line pulse shaping is demonstrated on a 890 MHz repetition rate mode-locked titanium sapphire laser. The high resolution pulse shaper is based on a virtual imaged phased array (VIPA) with a free spectral range of 25 GHz. For our implementation, the mask repeats every VIPA free spectral range, which corresponds to every 28 comb lines.

Theory of rapid-update line-by-line pulse shaping.

Pulse shaping theory is extended to include rapid waveform update for line-by-line pulse shaping. The fundamental tradeoff between response speed and waveform fidelity is illustrated by several examples.

Pulse dynamics in mode-locked lasers: relaxation oscillations and frequency pulling.

A theoretical description of the pulse dynamics in a modelocked laser including gain dynamics is developed. Relaxation oscillations and frequency pulling are predicted that influence the pulse parameters. Experimental observations of the response of a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser to an abrupt change in the pump power confirm that the predicted behavior occurs.