Analysis of a method of phase measurement of ultrashort pulses in the frequency domain

A detailed analysis of a method of phase measurement of ultrashort light pulses is performed. It is shown that the output pulse of a zero dispersion compressor with a mask consisting of a narrow slit is a wide pulse delayed an amount equal to the phase derivative of the field spectrum with respect to frequency. State criteria to determine whether the approximations are valid are presented. The method is not affected by artifacts coming from diffraction effects in the slit or by the fact that only correlations are measured. The effects of the errors in positioning the elements are considered and minimized in the construction of the experimental apparatus. A novel technique for measurement of the derivative of the cross correlation is described, and it is used to locate the delayed output pulse