Quantitative investigation of optical phase-measuring techniques for ultrashort pulse lasers

We have performed a quantitative investigation into the capabilities and the limitations of two phase-measuring techniques: second-harmonic-generation frequency-resolved optical gating and direct optical-spectral phase measurement. In particular, we have studied the reproducibility and the accuracy of these techniques in measuring the frequency-dependent phase of ultrashort pulses with varying amounts of cubic and quadratic phase. We find that both of these techniques are accurate to within 5% in measuring phase distortions in optical pulses. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America.