Amplitude and chirp characterization of high-power laser pulses in the 5-fs regime

Frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) based on second-harmonic generatio n has been demonstrated to be capable of high-fidelity measurement of the e lectric-field envelope and of the temporal evolution of the instantaneous c arrier frequency of 0.1-TW 5-fs pulses without the need for any correction for systematic experimental errors. At a 1-kHz repetition rate, pulse energ ies of a few microjoules are sufficient for reliable FROG characterization of pulses with durations down to the single-cycle regime. The results obtai ned reveal that carefully designed hollow-fiber chirped-mirror compressors are able to deliver high-power sub-10-fs pulses with a smooth Gaussianlike leading edge that has an intensity contrast of approximate to 10(-2). (C) 1 999 Optical Society of America. OCIS codes: 140.3280, 140.7090, 050.1590.