Theory and performance of the acousto optic programmable dispersive filter used for femtosecond laser pulse shaping

A first order theory of operation of the acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter used for femtosecond laser pulse optimization and shaping is presented. The filter spectral resolution, angular aperture, number of programming points, diffraction efficiency as a function of acoustic power are addressed. The theory takes into account the dispersion effects induced by the Tellurium dioxyde crystal. Wideband or high resolution operations of the filter lead to two different crystal cut optimizations. The applications of the filter concern: i) the simultaneous compensations of high orders phase distorsions and of gain narrowing in laser chains, ii) the coherent control of electronic or vibrationnal transitions in atomic, molecular and condensed matter physics.