Ultrashort pulse characterization by spectral shearing interferometry with spatially chirped ancillae

TL;DR

This paper introduces an improved spectral shearing interferometry technique using spatially chirped ancillae for ultrashort pulse characterization, enabling single-shot measurement with enhanced calibration and consistency checks.

Contribution

It presents a novel SPIDER variant that acquires multiple shears simultaneously and allows precise calibration from a single trace, improving accuracy and efficiency.

Findings

Single-shot interferogram captures multiple shears and spectral amplitude.

Calibration parameters obtained from one trace improve measurement accuracy.

Method enhances broadband ultrashort pulse characterization.

Abstract

We report a new version of spectral phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction (SPIDER), which enables consistency checking through the simultaneous acquisition of multiple shears and offers a simple and precise calibration method. By mixing the test pulse with two spatially chirped ancilla fields we generate a single-shot interferogram which contains multiple shears, the spectral amplitude of the test pulse, and the reference phase, which is accurate for broadband pulses. All calibration parameters - shear, upconversion-frequency and reference phase position - can be accurately obtained from a single calibration trace.