Arbitrary dispersion control of ultrashort optical pulses with acoustic waves

Acousto-optic programmable filters (AOPDF) can compensate in real time for groupdelay dispersion. This feature can be used in femtosecond chirped-pulse amplification to compensate dispersion adaptively. An analytical expression relating the group delay at the output of the AOPDF to the input acoustic signal was obtained with coupled-wave theory in the case of collinear bulk acousto-optic interactions. Numerical simulations in the LiNbO3 crystal are shown to support the principle of arbitrary group-delay control with an AOPDF.