Diagnostics of Ultrafast and Ultraintense Laser Pulses

Abstract

In this Chapter, an introductive overview of the experimental methods to characterize an ultrashort laser pulse will be given. Great attention will be paid to the measurement of their time behaviour; this encompasses both the time profile and the pulse contrast. A formal introduction to the mathematical description of an ultrashort pulse in time will be preliminarily provided. Since reaching an ultrashort duration, in the range of (formula presented)or less, typically requires an active management of the pulse spectral phase, a particular care will be devoted to the discussion of diagnostics providing both the pulse amplitude and phase. Finally, a brief account will be made of diagnostic techniques to characterize the beam wavefront.