title: Programmable amplitude- and phase-modulated femtosecond laser pulses in the mid-infrared.
abstract: We present a scheme to produce programmable phase- and amplitude-modulated femtosecond laser pulses in the mid-infrared regime of 3-10mum by difference frequency mixing. The 80-fs signal output of an optical parametric amplifier is shaped with a liquid-crystal mask and mixed in an AgGaS(2) crystal with a temporally stretched idler pulse. Without changing the mechanical alignment, we produce programmable amplitude modulations and chirped pulses at lambda=3mum with energy as high has thas 1muJ . This scheme, further, allows the generation of controllable pulse sequences. The results are in good agreement with theoretical simulations.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Witte
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zeidler
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Proch
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Kompa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Motzkus