Motion-Picture Recording of Light Pulses With Ultrashort Time Difference by Polarization Camera

Abstract

Ultrafast optical imaging techniques for light propagation are useful in many fields, such as physics, chemistry, and biomedicine. In this letter, we propose an imaging technique for obtaining dual motion pictures of propagating light pulses with an ultrashort time difference. To realize the proposed technique, we employed a polarization imaging camera to record dual motion pictures of propagating light pulses without superposition. We also constructed and introduced an optical delay setup for generating light pulses with ultrashort time differences. In addition, the capturing of two propagating light pulses with ultrashort time differences given by the optical delay setup was experimentally demonstrated. Specifically, we recorded the first and second light propagations for 302 fs with an 890 fs time difference.