INTERFEROMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF THE TEMPORAL TRANSFER-FUNCTION OF A SINGLE-SHOT PICOSECOND STREAK CAMERA

Temporal beats between two separate pulsed lasers of different adjusta ble frequency are used as a means of measuring the temporal transfer f unction of a single-shot picosecond streak camera. We describe two par allel pulse generators that use tunable distributed-feedback dye laser s. These lasers produce two pulses of different frequency that interfe re at the camera. The temporal fringe contrast at the camera output pr ovides a direct measure of its transfer function. Fringe spacing combi ned with spectroscopic measure of the laser wavelengths provides a cal ibration of the temporal scale.