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arXiv · 2207.14049

Variable electro-optic shearing interferometry for ultrafast single-photon-level pulse characterization

Stanisław Kurzyna·Marcin Jastrzębski·Nicolas Fabre·Wojciech Wasilewski·Michał Lipka·Michał Parniak
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Abstract

Despite the multitude of available methods, the characterisation of ultrafast pulses remains a challenging endeavour, especially at the single-photon level. We introduce a pulse characterisation scheme that maps the magnitude of its short-time Fourier transform. Contrary to many well-known solutions it does not require nonlinear effects and is therefore suitable for single-photon-level measurements. Our method is based on introducing a series of controlled time and frequency shifts, where the latter is performed via an electro-optic modulator allowing a fully-electronic experimental control. We characterized the full spectral and temporal width of a classical and single-photon-level pulse and successfully reconstructed their spectral phase and amplitude. The method can be extended by implementing a phase-sensitive measurement and is naturally well-suited to partially-incoherent light.

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Stanisław Kurzyna, Marcin Jastrzębski, Nicolas Fabre, Wojciech Wasilewski, Michał Lipka, Michał Parniak. 2022-07-28. Variable electro-optic shearing interferometry for ultrafast single-photon-level pulse characterization. https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.471108

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