Patent ID: 7813389
Filing Date: 2010-10-12
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
1. A highly efficient dynamic laser pulse-shaping generator emitting laser pulses with prescribed pulse shapes programmed through a combination of separate electrical and optical modulators, the prescribed pulse shapes exhibiting temporal features, comprising: a laser source driven by an electrical modulator to emit a pulsed laser output at a pulse repetition rate; a programmable electrical pulse-shaping circuit producing an electrical control signal and including a pulse generator cooperating with multiple time delay lines to develop a series of time-displaced pulses, a controller operatively connected to the multiple delay lines to select an amount of delay for each of the time-displaced pulses in the series, and a pulse combiner receiving and combining the time-displaced pulses to synthesize the electrical control signal ;and an optical modulator receiving the pulsed laser output and cooperating with the programmable electrical pulse-shaping circuit to generate multiple laser output pulses in response to the electrical control signal, the electrical control signal being programmed to a temporal shape that establishes the prescribed pulse shape of each of the multiple laser output pulses generated by the optical modulator.