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IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics

Direct interferometric techniques for characterizing ultrashort optical pulses

Chris Iaconis, Vincent Wong, Ian A. Walmsley

Published Jan 1, 1998• 44 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The two-time nonstationary correlation function is defined and applied to the problem of characterizing pulses whose amplitude and phase vary randomly from pulse to pulse. Using a linear-systems approach developed in earlier work, four simple interferometric techniques for measuring this quantity are described and analyzed. We show that these four methods offer simple and direct algorithms for reconstructing the correlation function and, in the case of a single pulse or a coherent ensemble of pulses, return the electric field amplitude and phase.

DOI
10.1109/2944.686734

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The two-time nonstationary correlation function is defined and applied to the problem of characterizing pulses whose amplitude and phase vary randomly from pulse to pulse. Using a linear-systems approach developed in earlier work, four simple interferometric techniques for measuring this quantity are described and analyzed. We show that these four methods offer simple and direct algorithms for reconstructing the correlation function and, in the case of a single pulse or a coherent ensemble of pulses, return the electric field amplitude and phase.
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From the nonclassicality of photon superbunching to the basic property of intensity, we characterize light with correlation and coherence functions. The correlation functions for nonstationary sources, such as short pulses, depend deterministically on the time dependent shape of the field and change the probability of the ensemble in time. We start from the fundamental principles of detection and show how nonstationary fields result in a coherence function that depends not only on the statistics of the field but also on the field shape. This means that observations of bunching and superbunching with ultrafast sources are not indicative of the quantum state of the field.
From the nonclassicality of photon superbunching to the basic property of intensity, we characterize light with correlation and coherence functions. The correlation functions for nonstationary sources, such as short pulses, depend deterministically on the time dependent shape of the field and change the probability of the ensemble in time. We start from the fundamental principles of detection and show how nonstationary fields result in a coherence function that depends not only on the statistics of the field but also on the field shape. This means that observations of bunching and superbunching with ultrafast sources are not indicative of the quantum state of the field.