Spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction of ultrashort optical pulses

Summary form only given. We experimentally demonstrate a self-referencing interferometric technique for complete characterization of ultrashort optical pulses that takes advantage of the direct phase-retrieval routine and simple implementation offered by interferometry and yet does not require a known reference pulse. We refer to this method, which is a version of spectral shearing, as spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction (SPIDER). We present the principle and implementation of SPIDER for use with femtosecond pulses and apply it to measure the amplitude and phase of pulses from a mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator.