Patent ID: 6967977

Claim:
A system for generating optical pulses comprising: a laser source, said laser source operable to produce a pulse, said pulse having a frequency spectrum, a temporal pulse shape with a leading edge and a time duration, a beam shape with a waist diameter, and a pulse energy; and a delay structure having an input side with a width and height and an output side spaced apart from said input side, wherein said input side is configured to receive said pulse and said height of said input side is substantially equal to said waist diameter, wherein said output side includes a plurality of step structures, wherein each of said plurality of step structures has an output face of a given shape, and a step-length facet having a length that is greater than the product of the speed of light across said step-length facet multiplied by said time duration, and wherein each of said plurality of step structures is located at a different location along said output side, wherein each of said plurality of step structure forms a unique optical path, wherein said delay structure is operable to divide said pulse into a plurality of non-overlapping pulses, wherein each of said plurality of non-overlapping pulses has a unique time delay with respect to said leading edge of said pulse, wherein each of said plurality of non-overlapping pulses has a frequency spectrum and a temporal pulse shape that is substantially similar to said frequency spectrum and said temporal pulse shape of said pulse, respectively and less energy than said pulse energy of said output pulse.