Separating the coherent and incoherent effects in optical correlation experiments on semiconductors and other saturable absorbers

In some pump-probe optical correlation experiments, the measured signal versus delay between pulses generally consists of two components: the convolution of the pulse autocorrelation with the sample impulse response, and a coherent artifact. The latter can obscure the first component near zero delay where fast time scale processes will be manifest. We present a mathematical description of the relative shapes and sizes of the two components, so that a fitting process can separate them. This can yield both the dephasing and relaxation times of saturable absorbers such as semiconductors. The method is particularly appropriate when the orientational dephasing and relaxation times are of the same time scale as the laser pulse width. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.