Within the past few years it has become increasingly common for electrical and optical systems to involve signals that vary on time scales of a few picoseconds or less, and the development of techniques which can reliably and economically produce, model, and measure such pulses is a matter of considerable practical importance. In spite of this activity, however, the majority of short pulse optical systems are still only partially and qualitatively understood, and the laser literature contains numerous experimental observations which have not yet been interpreted. The purpose of the theoretical and experimental studies in our proposed research is to develop a more rigorous understanding of the dynamical behavior of short pulse laser systems. The specific systems to be studied include dye lasers, which are the most common sources for picosecond pulses. In addition, dynamical models will be developed for the commercially important but incompletely characterized semiconductor diode lasers. The increased insight resulting from this program will lead to more efficient and reliable sources of short optical pulses, means for eliminating those pulses when they are undesirable, and perhaps to pulses with characteristics that are not now available.
