Microoptical processing of temporal signals

Any optical system has inherently spatial and temporal properties. The temporal impulse response is determined by the spatial structure. In terms of filter theory, one can distinguish setups with finite and infinite response characteristics. Micro optical elements and systems can be designed to synthesize temporal filters for short pulses. Furthermore, the optical system may be designed such that it affects both, spatial and temporal properties of an optical pulse. Here, several examples will be presented.