Abstract. A novel and promising light pulse compression technique based on frequency conversion in nonlinear crystals is reviewed and discussed in some detail. Five- to sevenfold compression of light pulses of different wavelengths and initial pulse widths providing an intensity conversion rate as high as 400% is demonstrated. It is shown that adaptively tilted pulses ensure modification of group velocity mismatch of interacting pulses in a medium and significantly extend the list of suitable crystals as well as the pulse compression rate. The results of 1.3 ps tilted pulse compression up to 150 fs due to second- and third-harmonic generation in BBO II and KDP I crystals, respectively, are presented.

Print publication: Issue 2 (March 1998)
Received 29 July 1997, in final form 19 September 1997