Spatiotemporal Amplitude and Phase Retrieval of Bessel-X pulses using a Hartmann-Shack Sensor

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method combining frequency-resolved optical gating and Hartmann-Shack sensing to fully characterize ultrashort Bessel-X pulses in space and time, revealing superluminal pulse peak propagation.

Contribution

The paper presents a new experimental technique for complete spatiotemporal characterization of ultrashort pulses, integrating existing methods in a novel way.

Findings

Successfully retrieved the full spatiotemporal amplitude and phase profile of Bessel-X pulses.

Demonstrated superluminal propagation of the pulse peak along the propagation axis.

Validated the technique's effectiveness in capturing ultrashort pulse dynamics.

Abstract

We propose a new experimental technique, which allows for a complete characterization of ultrashort optical pulses both in space and in time. Combining the well-known Frequency-Resolved-Optical-Gating technique for the retrieval of the temporal profile of the pulse with a measurement of the near-field made with an Hartmann-Shack sensor, we are able to retrieve the spatiotemporal amplitude and phase profile of a Bessel-X pulse. By following the pulse evolution along the propagation direction we highlight the superluminal propagation of the pulse peak.