Characterization of ultrashort pulses by a modified grating-eliminated no-nonsense observation of ultrafast incident laser light E fields (GRENOUILLE) method

Abstract

The measurement and characterization of ultrashort laser pulses remains an arduous task. The most commonly used pulse-measurement method is known as frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG), and another version with great experimental simplification and low-priced setup is known as grating-eliminated no-nonsense observation of ultrafast incident laser light E fields (GRENOUILLE). Nevertheless, there is interest in elaborating other, more accessible or simpler and cheaper, setups with equal or better assets. We explored modification of the GRENOUILLE method in which we replaced the original Fresnel biprism with a beam splitter and two mirrors and used a cheap webcam to measure the pulse traces. We have evaluated our system, and we propose a method to correct border effects caused by the beam intensity's profile based on the characterization of three pulse classes: Fourier-transform limited, double, and chirped. We compare the recovered electric field with further spectral and second-order correlation data of the corresponding pulses.