Aberrations in temporal imaging

Recent advances in temporal imaging allow construction of systems that can expand or compress arbitrary waveforms in time, while maintaining the shape of their envelope profile with subpicosecond resolution. The process is analogous to imaging in space, with the quadratic spectral phase introduced by narrow-band dispersion performing the time-domain role of paraxial diffraction and quadratic temporal phase modulation acting as a time lens. Higher order phase terms in the dispersive networks and the time lens modulation introduce aberrations into the system. The effect each aberration has on the final temporal image varies depending on the system configuration and where the source is located in the system. A theoretical and experimental study of aberration effects is presented in this article.