Temporal characterization of laser pulses from JIGUANG-I laser facility with a compact dual function autocorrelator

An optical pulse autocorrelator for rapid and slow scanning is described in this paper. Using an audio loudspeaker on one arm, an interferometric rapi d-scanning signal of the output from a high-repetition laser oscillator is obtained. However, by adjusting the positions of the mirrors and using a st ep-motor on another arm, the intensity autocorrelation function of the outp ut from a low-repetition laser amplifier can be easily measured. Using all- reflecting optics and an adequate nonlinear crystal, the whole instrument i s very compact and has been used to measure sub-20 fs light pulses in both configurations with excellent agreement. In the slow-scanning configuration , a pulse train as long as 500ps has been determined. Using this autocorrel ator, the home-made JIGUANG-I CPA laser facility was characterized for its pulse duration evolution.