Work

Accurate pulse-to-pulse stability measurement for femtosecond lasers

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Short-term energy stability metrology of pulsed lasers is the source of widespread misleading comparisons. The most used value for this characterization in commercial products and laboratory applications is the rms pulse-to-pulse stability (P-to-P). For frequency-specific analysis, the relative intensity noise (RIN) power spectral density is measured and the integrated RIN over a certain bandwidth is given. In principle, integrated RIN and P-to-P correspond to the same value. In practice, the different experimental setups often cause results to differ significantly. In this paper, we detail the specifics of measurement setups for short-term stability characterization and focus on measurements with stability better than 1% rms. The sensitivity of the P-to-P approach with respect to the oscilloscope specifications is shown by measuring a commercial femtosecond amplifier using three different oscilloscopes. A simple modified setup, including a low-pass filter at the laser repetition rate to turn the photodetected pulse train into a quasi-sinusoidal response, is proposed. This approach allows to overcome the oscilloscope limitation in standard P-to-P setups, allowing to obtain reliable measurements lower than 1% rms with a resolution of the order of 0.1%.

Source: Optics Express

DOI: 10.1364/oe.557987

Authors: Michele Natile, Gautier Parize, Florent Guichard, Marc Hanna, Patrick Georges

Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, Institut d’Optique Graduate School, Laboratoire Charles Fabry

Language: English

Topic: Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,270

Funder: Agence Nationale de la Recherche