Compression of mode-lacked laser pulses by a nonlinear Fabry-Perot interferometer

Abstract

Compression of optical pulses can be achieved1,2 by taking advantage of the intensity-dependent transmittivity exhibited by a nonlinear Fabry-Perot interferometer. The duration of the compressed pulses is then limited by the switching time of the nonlinear interferometer (e.g., the photon lifetime in the cavity). We show how this limitation can be overcome when the nonlinear interferometer is excited with a train of short pulses.