Control and measurement of ultrashort pulse shapes (in amplitude and phase) with femtosecond accuracy

Accurate correlation techniques are used to analyze the performance characteristics of a tunable, femtosecond pulse dye laser which is passively mode locked and uses either one or two intracavity prisms to control frequency and its modulation. The main advantages of the interferometric second-order autocorrelations used are the provision of phase information and a high sensitivity to pulse shape. A numerical method is used to analyze the more complex pulse shapes and chirps generated by the laser. Comparisons of autocorrelations and cross correlations calculated for the dispersed pulses with actual measurements demonstrate the accuracy of the fitting procedure used.