Controllable generation of partially coherent light pulses with direct space-to-time pulse shaper

Opt Lett. 2007 Jun 15;32(12):1608-10. doi: 10.1364/ol.32.001608.

Abstract

We demonstrate the possibility of creating user-defined partially coherent light pulses by means of a slight modification of the direct space-to-time pulse shaper. Specifically, we generate a mutual coherence function that corresponds to the independent-elementary-pulse representation model. The theoretical limits in the parameter of global coherence and the efficiency of the system are studied. Our result opens the door to a new way of quantum control in laser-assisted chemical reactions, namely, control by partial coherence.