Abstract
A new optical design for an autocorrelator using a double wedge is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. It consists of two wedges placed in a mirror-image configuration. Instead of splitting a beam by 90 degree angle as done in a conventional autocorrelator based on Michelson interferometer, the wedge splits the beam by 180 degrees. The angle of incidence is nearly normal to all the wedge surfaces so that this new design provides the compact in-line layout for an autocorrelator. The time delay can be adjustable by scanning the separation between two wedges. Due to the geometry, the double wedge produces multiple reflections, but they are angularly separated among each other. The laser pulse of 28 fs duration is measured by using the double wedge autocorrelator and compared with Michelson-type autocorrelator. The effect of material dispersion and angular chirp introduced by the wedge pair is discussed for shorter pulse measurement.
Highlights
Since the optical pulse duration has become shorter than the response time of a photo-electric detector, which is typically tens of picoseconds, one needs to rely on self-referencing#159543 - $15.00 USD (C) 2012 OSAReceived 6 Dec 2011; revised 11 Jan 2012; accepted 17 Jan 2012; published 27 Jan 2012 30 January 2012 / Vol 20, No 3 / OPTICS EXPRESS 3325 techniques to retrieve the information of the electric field
A new optical design for an autocorrelator using a double wedge is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. It consists of two wedges placed in a mirror-image configuration
Instead of splitting a beam by 90 degree angle as done in a conventional autocorrelator based on Michelson interferometer, the wedge splits the beam by 180 degrees
Summary
Since the optical pulse duration has become shorter than the response time of a photo-electric detector, which is typically tens of picoseconds, one needs to rely on self-referencing. An amplified pulse can be compressed to a single-cycle by using nonlinear compression scheme [2] or it can be produced directly from OPCPA after linear compression [3]. Other recent techniques on ultrashort pulse diagnostics are well summarized in reference [10] These tools provide the information of both field envelope and phase, which show every detail of an optical pulse including high-order dispersion and wave breaking. Once wellshaped ultrashort pulses are produced, the primary interest afterwards is to estimate the pulse duration and the presence of chirp For this purpose, an autocorrelator is the simplest form among the self-referencing diagnostic tools and has been widely used for daily analysis. Actual volume of wedge interferometer is 50 x 50 x 80 mm, which corresponds to the volume of two 1-inch mirror mounts
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
