Patent ID: 6683691
Filing Date: 2004-01-27
Classification: G01J,G02B,H01S

Abstract:
A method of spatially resolved and time-resolved interferometric characterization of ultrashort laser pulses, wherein a spatially resolved non-collinear measurement of an autocorrelation function of a first or higher order is performed by means of a matrix of beam shaping individual elements, whereby there is a local splitting of the beam into a beam matrix of conical component beams, where each component beam represents spatially integrated information regarding a partial area of the matrix through which it passes, spatial resolution is thus determined by matrix geometry, and an interference pattern produced in space by each component beam in a certain plane imaged on a matrix camera supplies an autocorrelation function of the first order or, by utilizing non-linear interactions in a suitable medium, an autocorrelation function of a higher order accordingly, so that a coherence time or a pulse period of individual laser pulses or trains of multiple pulses can be determined as a function of location.