Subject of study. The process of self-diffraction of a resonant pulse in a dense extended resonant medium was studied for the first time, which leads to an angular deflection of the output radiation and sequential emission of a large series of N pulses with a variable area in the range (-3π … 0 … 3π). The pulses are emitted from a small focusing region (0.1 … 1 mm) of the pump pulse in a dense extended resonant medium. The pulse wavelength corresponds to the resonant transition D2 87Rb (λ = 780.24 nm). Aim of study. Development of new devices for resonant quantum microwave photonics using laser signal processing methods in the microwave range of the spectrum. Method. In the caustic of a focused beam of a laser pump pulse with a cylindrical wave front, a transverse spatial profile of the electric field strength of a special shape f(x) is created. The pump pulse must have a converging (for example, cylindrical) wave front. The computer synthesized holograms developed by us can be used to create an arbitrary f(x) profile. Main results. The effect of self-diffraction of a pump pulse, which is accompanied by the process of emission of a series of N coherent resonant pulses with different areas in the range (-3π … 0 … 3π) from a short focusing region (0.1 … 1 mm) of a resonant laser pump pulse, is studied. With self-diffraction of the pump pulse, the number of emitted pulses with different areas reached N=16. The distribution of series pulses over the diffraction angle was observed in the range of angles [-5o…+4o]. At certain angles, nonlinear generation of 0π-pulses was observed. It is shown that the described method of nonlinear generation of 0π-pulses over a short interaction length between light and a resonant medium has been proposed for the first time. Practical significance. The obtained results of studying the effect of self-diffraction of a resonant pulse with a transverse spatial profile f(x) will serve as the basis for the development of prototype devices for signal processing problems using low-power laser diodes.