Abstract

Feedom from relative timing jitters allows pump-probe measurements to routinely achieve femtosecond time resolution. However, when the measured signal does not originate from the measurement laser, relative timing jitter is a significant limitation on the time resolution and signal-tonoise ratio.¹ Fall-times as short as 1.6 ps have previously been measured on electronically generated shock waveforms using a timing-stabilized laser.² Recently, an all-optical measurement system using two passively mode-locked lasers, without any precision synchronization between them, demonstrated subpicosecond resolution.³

© 1994 Optical Society of America