Compact autocorrelator for the online measurement of tunable 10 femtosecond pulses

An optical pulse autocorrelator is described which allows online measurement of femtosecond pulse profiles of tunable light sources having 100 Hz-10 kHz repetition rates. The device is capable of dispersion-free noninterferometric measurement of pulse durations ranging from about 100 to sub-10 fs. The applicability of the device is demonstrated in the wavelength range from 420 to 1460 nm. The time delay is scanned with a simple open-loop piezoceramic translator, which is interferometrically calibrated. The accuracy of the device is verified by comparing an autocorrelation trace of a 10 fs pulse with the autocorrelation computed from a zero-additional-phase-spectral phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction (ZAP-SPIDER) measurement in the visible region. Its compact design and high sensitivity make the autocorrelator an ideal tool for the diagnostics of tunable ultrashort pulses. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.