Abstract

We report on a sensitive autocorrelator for the 680-1300nm wavelength range, capable of sub-100fs resolution, based on two-photon-absorption (TPA) in an AlGaInP waveguide. The waveguide device is a low cost, commercially available, diode laser (SONY SLD 151V) which emitted at ~660nm under forward bias. We demonstrate that such lasers are eminently suitable for use as a stand-alone, processing-free, non-linear waveguide autocorrelator. Furthermore, the long interaction length due to the confinement in the waveguide results in high sensitivity. Autocorrelations of 100fs duration pulses have been achieved with single-beam incident powers as low as ~20μW. Similar AlGaAs-laser based detectors should be suitable for use in the 900nm-1.8μm range, and InGaAs(P) devices would extend the useful operating range to beyond 3μm. In principle, these detectors should be capable of operating down to ~1μW of incident power for ~100fs laser pulses.

© 1998 IEEE