Highly sensitive, single-shot characterization for pulse widths from 0.4 to 85 ps using electro-optic shearing interferometry.

Single-shot characterization using electro-optic shearing interferometry (EOSI) is shown for pulse widths ranging from their transform limit (0.4 ps) to 200x their limit (85 ps). In EOSI, the spectral phase is reconstructed by interfering two spectrally sheared replicas of the pulse under test, where the shear is produced by applying linear temporal-phase modulation. We present a new reconstruction algorithm for accurately characterizing chirped pulses, even if the pulse extends beyond the linear region of the phase modulation. Furthermore, since EOSI does not rely on nonlinear optical processes, it requires only 1 nJ pulse energies for all pulse widths, corresponding to a single-shot sensitivity 1000x higher than previously demonstrated.