Generalized temporal synthesis method for a birefringent laser pulse shaper

We propose a new method for the synthesis of arbitrary temporal output pulse profiles by using a birefringent laser pulse shaper. This shaper contains a series of N birefringent crystals placed between input and output polarizers. The synthesis method starts with the linear time-invariant system theory to determine the optimal amplitudes of the replica pulses at the output polarizer and the time delay between them, and then uses the temporal Jones matrix formalism to obtain the angle of each crystal. The design procedure is demonstrated for an eight-stage birefringent laser pulse shaper. Several examples of predefined output pulse profiles are given to show the potential of the proposed birefringent laser pulse shaper.