Geometrical optical modeling of femtosecond setups having angular dispersion

• Published in: Applied physics. B, Lasers and optics Vol. 76; no. 3; pp. 257 - 261
• Main Authors: KOZMA, I. Z, ALMASI, G, HEBLING, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Springer 01.03.2003
• Subjects: Dispersions; Error correction; Exact sciences and technology; Femtosecond; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Geometrical optics; Group delay; Lasers; Mathematical models; Nonlinear optics; Optical paths; Optical system design; Optics; Physics; Spectra; Ultrafast processes; optical pulse generation and pulse compression; Wave fronts and ray tracing; Optical path; Pulse propagation; Ultrashort pulse; Theoretical study; Ray tracing; Geometrical optics; Optical systems; Optical design techniques; Group delay
• ISSN: 0946-2171; 1432-0649
• DOI: 10.1007/s00340-002-1083-5

A reliable and efficient method based on a geometrical optical approach is presented to model the propagation of ultrashort pulses in optical systems. It is shown that the commonly used method to determine the group delay of the spectral components of a pulse from their geometrical optical path lengths is only correct for aberration-free optical systems. In the case of systems with angular dispersion and imaging errors, a correction to the path values obtained from ray-tracing calculations must be applied, since for specific systems neglect of the correction causes significant errors. A technique for performing this correction is presented. Two optical arrangements used for the generation and detection of tunable THz radiation by the femtosecond tilted-pulse-front excitation technique are analyzed to demonstrate the indispensability of the correction.