Abstract:
An investigation is made of the feasibility of using various uniaxial and biaxial nonlinear crystals to measure the autocorrelation function of a single picosecond optical pulse using the second-harmonic beam method. General requirements are formulated for the wave interaction geometry in a crystal in order to maximize the temporal resolution and sensitivity of the autocorrelator. An analysis is made of LiJO3, KDP, KB5O8·4H2O and LiCHOO·H2O crystals. The optimum interaction geometry is determined and the scanning duration and upper measurement limit are calculated for each crystal. Measurements of these quantities are reported for an LiJO3 crystal autocorrelator.