Ultrashort pulses of light play a critical role in modern technology because they are used to send signals to devices like phones, computers, and televisions. The distance traveled by these pulses can be quite long, allowing them to broaden and produce weaker signals. To study femtosecond pulses generated by a Ti:sapphire laser, an auto-correlator was used. In this system, the 750-850 nm light produced by the laser was frequency doubled in a Type I β-Barium Borate (BBO) crystal to create Second Harmonic Generation (SHG). A GaP photodiode was used to measure the intensity of the SHG beam, and the intensity was plotted against time to characterize the pulse width of the Ti:sapphire laser by Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) after the BBO crystal, which was 94 fs. Subsequently, another pulse width was measured, but this time through 150 nm gold nanoparticles. Gold nanoparticles can absorb and scatter light, so they were used in an attempt to modify the pulse width. Studying how gold nanoparticles and other materials alter pulse width will help us ascertain the effects of dispersion and other factors on ultrashort pulses.

Using an auto-correlator to produce second harmonic generation and study the effects of dispersion on femtosecond pulses

2019 Spring National Meeting

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