Abstract

Ultrafast optical technology is beginning to evolve from a laboratory curiosity into a real- world technology, with the promise of many novel applications in electronics, medicine, process control, imaging and the biomedical area. Although many interesting suggestions have appeared for such applications, there is still a strong need for development of compact, reliable and affordable sources of ultrashort optical pulses within a wide range of operation parameters in wavelength, pulsewidth, power, etc. In this tutorial, we discuss the status of short-pulse sources in the form of diode-pumped solid-state, fiber, and semiconductor lasers and try to outline the general requirements for such sources.

© 1995 Optical Society of America