Abstract
Coherence is an essential property of light sources [1] and its accurate characterization is paramount for many applications [2]. The temporal coherence properties of pulse trains can be described rigorously using the second-order coherence theory of non-stationary light, by means of the two-time mutual coherence function (MCF) [1]. In principle, the construction of the MCF is possible if one can measure the complex waveforms of an ensemble of individual pulses [3]. Whilst this may be possible for pulses with long durations, it is simply not possible for more complex light sources such as supercontinuum where the single-shot ultrafast time variations of the waveform can not be resolved with current detection techniques. Several indirect methods have been suggested to measure the MCF of non-stationary light sources [3] but they typically only allow to retrieve the modulus of the correlation function and experiments have been limited to narrowband light sources. Here, we report for the first time the experimental measurement of the MCF (both amplitude and phase) of an broadband supercontinuum light source by using a near-equal equal path Michelson interferometer combined with cross-correlation frequency resolved optical gating (XFROG). The technique relies on the time-resolved measurement of interference fringes observed as the delay between the two arms of the Michelson interferometer is varied [4].
© 2015 IEEE
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