System and method for determining absolute carrier-envelope phase of ultrashort laser pulses

A method of determining an absolute carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of ultrashort laser pulses comprising the steps of:

• converting linear polarized light to elliptical polarized light with a broad band quarter wave plate;
• detecting a plurality of individual images for each of the ultrashort laser pulses;
• and
• determining the absolute CEP of each of the ultrashort laser pulses with an angular streaking technique;
• wherein the elliptically polarized strong electric field forms a polarization ellipse with a minor axis and a major axis, the method comprising at least one of the following two intermediate steps:
• determining a deflection angle between a measured minimum yield angle and the minor axis of the polarization ellipse for each of the ultrashort laser pulses;
• and
• determining the deflection angle between a measured maximum yield angle and the major axis of the polarization ellipse for each of the ultrashort laser pulses.

A system for calibrating an absolute carrier-envelope phase of ultrashort optical pulses, comprising:

• a laser system for generating a laser beam including ultrashort optical pulses of a duration of less than 10 fs;
• a beam splitter positioned to receive the laser beam, from which emanates a first beam and a second beam;
• a first characterization system that includes:
• an ultrabroadband quarter-wave plate configured to polarize the first beam;
• a gas jet emitting a continuous jet stream into the first beam;
• focusing optics to adjust a focal spot of the first beam to the gas jet;
• and
• a detector arrangement including a beam block and a microchannel plate (MCP) imaging detector, wherein the first beam is directed to the detector arrangement;
• and
• a second characterization system that characterizes the second beam using an f-to-2f system.

A system for determining an absolute carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of ultrashort laser pulses, comprising:

• a laser system for generating a laser beam including ultrashort optical pulses of a duration of less than 10 fs;
• an ultrabroadband quarter-wave plate configured to polarize the laser beam;
• a gas jet emitting a continuous jet stream into the laser beam;
• focusing optics to adjust a focal spot of the laser beam to the gas jet;
• and
• a detector arrangement including a beam block and a microchannel plate (MCP) imaging detector, wherein the laser beam is directed to the detector arrangement;
• wherein the focusing optics further include a concave mirror which directs the laser beam to a quarter waveplate (QWP), which thereby passes to a velocity map imaging (VMI) chamber.

A method of determining an absolute carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of ultrashort laser pulses comprising the steps of:

• converting linear polarized light to elliptical polarized light with a broad band quarter wave plate;
• detecting a plurality of individual images for each of the ultrashort laser pulses;
• determining the absolute CEP of each of the ultrashort laser pulses with an angular streaking technique;
• and
• generating the linear polarized light using a laser having ultrashort optical pulses of a duration of less than 10 fs.