A novel technique for measuring the pulsewidth of nanosecond laser pulses

This paper presents a simple, low-cost, and novel technique for measuring t he temporal pulse shape of a nanosecond laser pulse accurately and consiste ntly, The measurement configuration consists of a focusing lens, a tapered rod, and a digital noise filter, Using this setup, the pulsewidth of a nitr ogen laser has been determined experimentally, Compared with an unaided mea surement configuration, the new setup reduces the maximum deviation from 24 .5% to 6.2% and the standard deviation from 7.6% to 1.4%, respectively.