Characterization of the spectral phase of ultrashort light pulses

C. Dorrer (1) , Manuel Joffre (2)

1 Institute of Optics
2 LOB - Laboratoire d'optique et biosciences

The complete characterization of a short light pulse requires the measurement of the value of the electric field as a function of time, or conversely, as a function of the optical frequency. Many different techniques have been demonstrated for this purpose. They fall in two main categories, whether a known reference pulse whose spectrum encompasses that of the unknown pulse is available or not. In the first case, linear techniques such as time-domain or frequency-domain interferometry can be directly used, with the advantage of a high sensitivity. In the latter case, non-stationary filters can be implemented using optical non-linearities, in techniques such as Frequency Resolved Optical Gating (FROG) or Spectral Phase Interferometry for Direct Electric-field Reconstruction (SPIDER). Cop. 2001 Académie des sciences/Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS.

C. Dorrer, Manuel Joffre. Characterization of the spectral phase of ultrashort light pulses. Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences. Série IV, Physique, Astronomie, 2001, 2 (10), pp.1415-1426. ⟨10.1016/S1296-2147(01)01279-3⟩. ⟨hal-00837034⟩