Ultrashort pulse characterization

Summary form only given. Response times of electronic detectors are still orders of magnitude behind the time scales achieved in ultrafast optics, spanning picosecond femtosecond and attosecond ranges [1]. As a result, special characterization methods are needed for measuring such extreme short durations [2]. Most characterization methods stem from the idea of autocerrelation; using an event to measure itself. However, today we have gone much further than the limited estimates from simple autocorelations. We can extract the complete temporal or spectral evolution of ultrashort pulses, including both the intensity and phase information in time and frequency domains. Even further, spatial and complete spatio-temporal evolutions can also be measured with high sensitivity, resolution and reliability (Fig.1). In this course, we will review principles of ultrashort pulse characterization and then detail on particular commonly used methods such as FROG, SPIDER and their relatives. We will also discuss additional considerations required for extremely short (near single cycle cycle regime), long/narrowband, and extremely complicated pulses.