The past decade has seen the introduction of high performance short-pulse systems such as fiber and disk lasers with repetition rates in the several hundred-kHz range. These have provided the user with a wide range of interaction parameters to chose from. The availability of high speed optical imaging techniques has also provided the opportunity to explore high-speed laser matter interactions in greater detail. In this paper we demonstrate a single pulse study of a decaying tail in the pulse envelope using “unfilled” and “energy filled” pulses. We demonstrate a Pulsed digital holography (PDH) system used to study the shock wave dynamics, laser induced plasma and energy deposition efficiencies of single and multi-pulse interactions of 200 ns shaped laser pulses, with a temporal resolution of < 10 ns. Finally, we demonstrate novel designer pulses that show improved material response and increased penetration depth at a fraction of the energetic cost of conventional pulses.The past decade has seen the introduction of high performance short-pulse systems such as fiber and disk lasers with repetition rates in the several hundred-kHz range. These have provided the user with a wide range of interaction parameters to chose from. The availability of high speed optical imaging techniques has also provided the opportunity to explore high-speed laser matter interactions in greater detail. In this paper we demonstrate a single pulse study of a decaying tail in the pulse envelope using “unfilled” and “energy filled” pulses. We demonstrate a Pulsed digital holography (PDH) system used to study the shock wave dynamics, laser induced plasma and energy deposition efficiencies of single and multi-pulse interactions of 200 ns shaped laser pulses, with a temporal resolution of < 10 ns. Finally, we demonstrate novel designer pulses that show improved material response and increased penetration depth at a fraction of the energetic cost of conventional pulses.