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Single-shot measurement of phase and amplitude by using a heterodyne time-lens system and ultrafast digital time-holography

Nature Photonics volume 12, pages 228–234 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Temporal imaging systems are outstanding tools for single-shot observation of optical signals that have irregular and ultrafast dynamics. They allow long time windows to be recorded with femtosecond resolution, and do not rely on complex algorithms. However, simultaneous recording of amplitude and phase remains an open challenge for these systems. Here, we present a new heterodyne time-lens arrangement that efficiently records both the amplitude and phase of complex and random signals over large temporal windows (tens of picoseconds). Phase and time are encoded onto the two spatial dimensions of a camera. We implement this phase-sensitive time-lens system in two configurations: a time microscope and a digital temporal-holography device that enables single-shot measurement with a temporal resolution of ~80 fs. We demonstrate direct application of our heterodyne time-lens to turbulent-like optical fields and optical rogue waves generated from nonlinear propagation of partially coherent waves inside optical fibres.

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Fig. 1: Heterodyne time-lens arrangement for amplitude and phase measurement of arbitrary signals.
Fig. 2: Phase, amplitude and spectrum of partially coherent waves (ASE).
Fig. 3: Nonlinear random waves.
Fig. 4: Nonlinear holography.
Fig. 5: Digital time-holography set-up (SEAHORSE) and test data.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been partially supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche through the LABEX CEMPI project (ANR-11-LABX-0007) and by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Hauts-de-France Regional Council and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Contrat de Projets Etat-Région (CPER Photonics for Society P4S) and by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) through the project MICRO TURBU. The authors thank A. Mussot, the photonics group of the PhLAM and P. Szriftgiser for fruitful discussions and technical help. The authors also acknowledge MENLO for providing the femtosecond laser used for the time-holography measurements. The authors thank N. Savoia for the everyday work on the femto laser and R. El Koussaifi, C. Evain and M. Le Parquier for their crucial contribution in the development of the time lens.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molecules, UMR-CNRS 8523, Université de Lille, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France

    Alexey Tikan, Serge Bielawski, Christophe Szwaj, Stéphane Randoux & Pierre Suret

  2. Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Lasers et Applications (CERLA), Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France

    Alexey Tikan, Serge Bielawski, Christophe Szwaj, Stéphane Randoux & Pierre Suret

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the design and the realization of the heterodyne time microscope and time-holography devices. All the authors participated in the data acquisition that has been essentially performed by A.T. All authors participated in data analysis, numerical simulations and have written the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pierre Suret.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

This file includes a comparison between conventional time-lens and digital holography, and the comparison between numerical simulations, SEAHORSE and HTM.

Supplementary Video 1

This video shows experimental recordings of partially coherent light at fibre input and output of a 400-m-long polarization-maintaining fibre.

Supplementary Video 2

This video shows double pulse signal retrieval using the digital holography algorithm.

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Tikan, A., Bielawski, S., Szwaj, C. et al. Single-shot measurement of phase and amplitude by using a heterodyne time-lens system and ultrafast digital time-holography. Nature Photon 12, 228–234 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-018-0113-8

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