Mid-infrared polarization pulse shaping by parametric transfer

Abstract

We demonstrate the generation of arbitrary amplitude, phase, and polarization controlled pulses in the mid-infrared (MIR) tunable around 3.5 microm. Two temporally separated sets of individually phase and amplitude shaped pulse profiles in the near-infrared are transferred into the MIR via two independent optical parametric amplification processes in two perpendicularly oriented nonlinear crystals in a common-path geometry. The resulting two shaped MIR light fields of orthogonal polarizations are temporally recombined interferometrically in a birefringent material.