Time-stretched real-time measurement technique for ultrafast absorption variations with TS/s sampling-rate.

Abstract

We present a real-time measurement technique, based on time-stretching for measuring the temporal dynamic of ultrafast absorption variations with a sampling-rate of up to 1.1 TS/s. The single-shot captured data are stretched in a resonator-based time-stretch system with a variable stretch-factor of up to 13.8. The time-window of the time-stretch system for capturing the signal of interest is about 800 ps with an update-rate of 10 MHz. An adapted optical backpropagation algorithm is introduced for reconstructing the original unstretched event. As proof-of-principle the temporal characteristic of a picosecond semiconductor saturable absorber mirror is measured: The real-time results agree well with the results of a conventional pump-probe experiment. The time-stretch technique potentially allows to gain access to a large field of ultrafast absorption variations like semiconductor charge carrier dynamics, irreversible polymerization processes, and saturable absorber materials.