Application of a spatial light modulator for programmable optical pulse compression to the sub-6-fs regime

We present a grating-pair-formed pulse shaper with a spatial light modulator (SLM) for programmable chirp compensation by applying voltages on the SLM. When linear and nonlinear chirp are optimally compensated for, corresponding to the quadratic, cubic, and quartic phases of -400 fs/sup 2/, 1100 fs/sup 3/, and 2000 fs/sup 4/ at the center wavelength 780 nm on the SLM, a stronger chirped white light continuum (WLC) pulse with a spectral bandwidth of 570-970 nm is compressed to the sub-6-fs regime.