
5
Ultrashort Sources I: Fundamentals
5.1. INTRODUCTION
The standard source of ultrashort pulses is a mode-locked laser. Fundamental
properties of the radiation emitted by such a source, both in time and frequency
domains, are presented in this first section. Section 5.2 exposes the main theoret-
ical models to predict the shape of the pulses generated in such a laser. General
considerations about the evolution of the pulse energy are given in Section 5.3.
Section 5.4 is dedicated to the analysis of the main components of the laser, out-
lining the mechanism of pulse shaping of each element (or groups of elements).
Of course, the laser resonator itself ...