Autocorrelation measurements of free-electron laser radiation using a two-photon QWIP

The two-photon QWIP comprises three equidistant subbands, namely two bound states localized in the quantum well and an extended state in the continuum. This device is very promising for quadratic autocorrelation measurements of pulsed mid-infrared lasers due to its resonantly enhanced optical nonlinearity and sub-ps time resolution. We report on interferometric autocorrelation measurements of ps optical pulses from a free-electron laser (FEL). The intense FEL radiation further allows us to study the saturation properties of two-photon QWIPs at liquid nitrogen temperature and their detection properties at 300 K. The device is well suited for standard diagnostics of the FEL pulse shape via interferometric autocorrelation. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.