Patent ID: 7817686

Claim:
A dynamic laser pulse shaping generator emitting tailored pulse output, comprising: a pulsed laser source generating pulsed laser emission exhibiting jitter that results from effects of indeterminate energy build-up of laser pulse energy; an optical detector producing a detector output signal in response to occurrence of the pulsed laser emission; a controller providing control command output; an optical modulator optically associated with the pulsed laser source to produce a sequence of multiple states of output transmission of the pulsed laser emission, the optical modulator being of a Pockels cell type that includes crystal material selected from KDP, KD*P, ADP, AD*P, RTP, RTA, BBO, or LiNbO 3 electro-optical materials and exhibits electrical capacitance; drive circuitry receiving first and second input signals to develop, in response to the detector output signal and the control command output, drive control output that is applied to the optical modulator to produce the sequence of multiple states of output transmission, the first input signal causing the optical modulator to produce a first transition between lower and higher output transmission states of the pulsed laser emission, and the second input signal causing the optical modulator to produce a second transition from the higher output transmission state to an intermediate output transmission state of the pulsed laser emission, in which the intermediate output transmission state is between the higher and lower output transmission states of the pulsed laser emission; electrical resistance positioned to affect the application of the drive control output to the optical modulator, the electrical capacitance and resistance cooperating to shape at least one of the first and second output transmission state transitions; and the detector output signal synchronizing the occurrence of the pulsed laser emission and the control command output in the production of the sequence of multiple states of output transmission of the pulsed laser emission to form a jitter-suppressed tailored pulse output exhibiting a tailored laser pulse temporal profile established by the sequence.