Compression of picosecond pulses from diode lasers using a modified grating-pair compressor

Optical pulses from gain-switched diode lasers were compressed using a grating-pair compressor containing an internal telescope. Original pulses of 20-30 psec were compressed to 5-7 psec, with the largest compression factor ~5. Diode-laser pulse compression is well modeled by transmission of Gaussian pulses with excess bandwidth through a dispersive system.