Pulse shaping in crossed-beam volume gratings.

A detailed study of pulse shaping properties in crossed-beam volume gratings is performed. Analytical expressions for the profiles of the transmitted and diffracted beams are obtained based on the modified coupled wave theory. The spatial and spectrum evolutions and the diffraction efficiency of the diffracted pulsed beams are discussed. It is shown that the profiles of diffraction pulses and the total diffraction efficiency are greatly affected by the grating size, recording angle, and refractive-index modulation. The studies indicate that the shaping properties for different geometry parameters of the crossed-beam volume gratings are different. However, this difference can be used for many special pulse shaping applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]