Optical autocorrelator for autocorrelating picosecond optical pulses

Abstract

Abstract AN OPTICAL AUTOCORRELATOR WHICH CVAN BE EMPLOYED TO INVESTIGATE OPTICAL PULSES HAVING DURATIONS OF THE ORDER OF 10-12 SECONDS IS DISCLOSED. THE AUTOCORRELATOR COMPRISES A SINGLE BRIEFRINGENT, NONLINEAR MEDIUM. OPTICAL PULSES ARE APPLIED TO THE MEDIUM SUCH THAT EACH PULSE IS RESOLVED INTO TWO ORTHOGONALLY POLARIZED COMPONENT PULSES TRAVELING WITH DIFFERENT GROUP VELOCITIES. BY CAUSING MULTIPLE REFLECTIONS OF THE PULSES BETWEEN A FIRST AND SECOND SURFACE OF THE MEDIUM, THE PULSES ARE MADE TOTRACE OUT A ZIGZAG PATH WITHIN THE MEDIUM. IN EACH TRAVERSAL FROM THE FIRST SURFACE TO THE SECOND SURFACE, THE PULSES GENERATE SECOND HARMONIC POWER WHOSE TIME AVERAGE IS SUBSTANTIALLY PROPORTIONAL TO A POINT ON THE INTENSITY AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION OF THE PULSES. SECOND HARMONIC DETECTORS, LOCATED AT THE REFLECTION POINTS ON THE SECOND SURFACE, DETECT THE SECOND HARMONIC POWER GENERATED, AND VARIOUS POINTS ON THE AUTOCORRELATION FUNCTION ARE THEREBY OBTAINED. THE LATTER FUNCTION CONTAINS ESSENTIALLY ALL THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PULSES, E.G, THEIR WIDTH AND THEIR REPETITION RATE.

Inventors

• 👤 Detlef Christoph Gloge

Bibliographic Details