A Robust Compact Portable Instrument Package for the Complete Spatiotemporal Measurement of a Single Ultrashort Laser Pulse

We will develop a simple, lightweight, compact, robust, and inexpensive instrument package that will report essentially all ultrashort-laser-pulse characteristics. It will yield, on a single shot, the pedestal power and complete pulse spatiotemporal field, E(x,y,z,t)i.e. all possible pulse information, including pulse-shape stability, even if multi-shot operation is required. It will include user-friendly software yielding a highly intuitive color movie of each pulse, allowing monitoring by an essentially untrained operator. It will also provide outputs to control laser and pulse parameters, as desired. It will require minimal electrical power: a single laptop, which powers devices currently sold by Swamp Optics. Specifically, the package will contain a simple, robust, and compact device, called STRIPED FISH, to measure each pulses E(x,y,z,t). It uses a spatially filtered reference pulse, extracted from the test pulse and measured by a well-established, simple, robust, and compact device, called GRENOUILLE. Finally, a novel device will measure the presence of any pedestal present.