  A novel technique for divided-pulse amplification is presented in a
proof-of-principle experiment. A pulse burst, cut out of the pulse train of a
mode-locked oscillator, is amplified and temporally combined into a single
pulse. High combination efficiency and excellent pulse contrast are
demonstrated. The system is mostly fiber-coupled, enabling a high
interferometric stability. This approach provides access to the amplitude and
phase of the individual pulses in the burst to be amplified, potentially
allowing the compensation of gain saturation and nonlinear phase mismatches
within the burst. Therefore, this technique enables the scaling of the peak
power and pulse energy of pulsed laser systems beyond currently prevailing
limitations.
