Agile linear interferometric method for carrier-envelope phase drift measurement

Abstract

A bandwidth-independent and linear interferometric method for the measurement of the carrier-envelope phase drift of ultrashort pulse trains is demonstrated. The pulses are temporally overlapped in a resonant multiple-beam interferometer. From the position of the spectral interference pattern, the relative carrier-envelope phase between two subsequent oscillator pulses is obtained at data acquisition rates up to 200 Hz. Cross calibration has been performed by f-to-2f interferometry in two independent experiments. The optical length of the interferometer has been actively stabilized, leading to a phase jitter of 117 mrad (rms). These results indicate a reduced noise and quicker data acquisition in comparison with previous linear methods for measuring the carrier-envelope phase drift.

What We Can Learn about Ultrashort Pulses by Linear Optical Methods

“…This type of stabilization can dramatically decrease the noise in CEP drift detection. A comparative study showed exceptional agreement with the results obtained from the f-to-2f technique, while demonstrated 120 mrad RMS noise of the CEP drift provided by the MBI method [98].…”

“…The most advanced device relies solely on a multiple-beam interferometer (MBI) and a spectrograph [97,98]. The advantage of using spectrally resolved interferometry is that besides properties of the detector, the system is practically free of wavelength conditions, including the bandwidth, the spectral range or the central wavelength.…”

Carrier-envelope Phase Drift Detection of Picosecond Pulses

“…Since the delay between the subsequent pulses of the train is small, they interfere spectrally at the output of the MBI. With the use of a spectrograph, from the spectral position of these spectral interference fringes the CEP drift between the pulses [9] can be uniquelly deducted. Concerning the length of the interferometer, thermal drift and mechanical vibrations pose severe problems for our measurement application.…”

“…In response to this blind spot of laser characterization, we have recently proposed and demonstrated a linear method of CEP drift detection, based on a multiple-beam interferometer [9].…”

Phase and polarization changes of pulsed Gaussian beams during focusing and propagation

“…Since then, it has been proven that SI with its several branches can provide a simple, linear optical method for CEP-drift measurements [184,185]. Using a linear method for the detection of pulse-to-pulse CEP changes is beneficial, because it needs neither high intensities (low-energy pulses can be measured and no focusing is needed) [186], nor the broad bandwidth is necessary (applicable for multi-cycle pulses) [187]. The setups can be extremely simple, at least compared to detection techniques presented in the previous section.…”