Single shot laser pulse reconstruction based on self phase modulated spectra measurements
We report a method for ultrashort pulse reconstruction based only on the pulse spectrum and two self phase modulated (SPM) spectra measured after pulse propagation through thin media with a Kerr nonlinearity. The advantage of this method is that it is a simple and very effective tool for characterization of complex signals. We have developed a new retrieval algorithm that was verified by reconstructing numerically generated fields, such as a complex electric field of double pulses and few cycle pulses with noises, pedestals and dips down to zero spectral intensity, which is challenging for commonly used techniques. We have also demonstrated a single shot implementation of the technique for the reconstruction of experimentally obtained pulses. This method can be used for high power laser systems operating in a single shot mode in the optical, near and mid IR spectral ranges. The method is robust, low cost, stable to noise, does not require a priori information, and has no ambiguity related to time direction.
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