HYBRID PRISM-GRATING ULTRASHORT PULSE COMPRESSORS

O.E. MARTÍNEZ

OPTICS COMMUNICATIONS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 1991 vol. 83 p. 117 - 122

0030-4018

A pulse compressor is described that combines the use of gratings and prisms. The grating is used at Littrow configuration, and only one reflection on it is needed. The losses of the system are substantially smaller than a conventional grating pair compressor. On the other hand, if compared with a prism compressor, the dispersion achieved is much larger. The higher order terms in the frequency dependence of the time delay dispersion are also computed. It is shown that a third order term appears in the lateral displacement, and depending on the configuration, a third order term might also appear in the residual angular dispersion; such terms cancel if an expansor-compressor pair is used. The large compression factors, perfect cancelation of the pairs and the fact that the last element (where the maximum intensity is achieved) is a prism make these hybrid compressors specially suited for chirp pulse amplification.