Abstract: Disclosed is a system for arbitrary control of amplitude, phase and polarization characteristics of light in pulsed laser systems, allowing fast pulse-to-pulse modification of the above-mentioned parameters for single pulses or arbitrarily long and closely-spaced bursts of pulses. The control uses an electro-optic device, driving it by a specially designed high voltage driver. The operation of the driving electronics is based on the precise control of charging and discharging a Pockels cell inherent capacitance. This inherent capacitance is typically considered as parasitic. Therefore, prior voltage drivers operate in spite of the capacitance instead of using it. The present high voltage driver consists of a multitude of current-controlled stages capable of sinking and sourcing specific and adjustable currents into the capacitive load of the Pockels cell. The disclosed device and the corresponding control method allow for precise and energy-efficient shaping of Pockels cell control voltage.

Abstract: A method and a device for generating a series of laser pulses in a laser device, particularly single and multiple bursts of pulses with a minimum temporal distance between the pulses in a single burst in the picosecond domain. The device includes at least a master oscillator and a regenerative amplifier. The method includes steps of injecting a laser pulse from the master oscillator into the regenerative amplifier, amplifying injected pulse burst during multiple round-trips in an optical cavity of the regenerative amplifier, ejecting amplified pulse burst from the cavity of the regenerative amplifier. The injection step involves applying a first intermediate voltage to an optical switch for a time span, during which pulses from the oscillator are injected into the amplifier, forming a burst of injected seed pulses, which are further amplified in the amplification step, in which the optical switch voltage is set to a locking voltage.