Theory and design of two-dimensional spectral shearing interferometry for few-cycle pulse measurement

We provide a detailed discussion of our recently developed pulse characterization technique for few-cycle pulses, called two-dimensional spectral shearing interferometry (2DSI). Based on spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction (SPIDER), 2DSI is relatively simple to implement, but requires no interferometer delay or scan calibration. We show simulations of 2DSI in the presence of noise and find that it retains the favorable noise performance of spectral shearing methods, performing identically to standard SPIDER for a given measurement time. The optimal choice of experimental parameters is discussed, with results applicable to any spectral shearing method. Experimental considerations when building and operating a 2DSI are provided, with results shown for a 4.9 fs pulse, verifying the accuracy and precision of the 2DSI. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America