Arbitrary pulse shaping based on intensity-only modulation in the frequency domain.

We propose a novel technique to implement arbitrary pulse shaping of an ultrashort pulse by intensity-only modulation in the frequency domain. The intensity-only modulation is realized by nonuniformly spaced sampling in the frequency domain. By properly designing the sampling function, multiple pulses in the time domain will be generated with one of which being the desired waveform. The desired waveform is then selected by a time window. Both the optical amplitude and phase distributions of the output waveform can be controlled. Theoretical analysis is presented. An example showing the generation of a rectangular pulse is provided.