An Autocorrelator for Pulse Length Measurement
Ian Hoffman
Advisor: Dr. Beth Parks, Colgate University
The theory and instrumentation of the autocorrelation method for measuring the time duration of the 20fs to 50fs pulses of a titanium:sapphire laser are described. The discussion includes the role of the doubling crystal, a non-linear dielectric medium, in the acquisition of the autocorrelation.
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Ian works on aligning his autocorrelator for measuring the length of ultrashort pulses. At the time of the completion of his project the modelocked Ti-saphire laser was not yet ready. Later in the summer the autocorrelator was indeed measuring 80 femtosecond (fs) long pulses (6 minutes is about the geometric mean between 1 fs and the age of the universe!). |
