Autocorrelation and phase retrieval in the UV using two-photon absorption in diamond pin photodiodes

We report on the utilization of the two-photon induced free carrier generation in a diamond pin-type photodiode to record fringe-resolved second-order autocorrelations of femtosecond pulses in the UV. Measurements in photovoltaic mode are performed at the second and third harmonic of a Ti:sapphire laser (lambda(0) = 401 nm and lambda(0) = 265 nm) with pulse energies down to about 2 nJ. The band gap of diamond of 5.5 eV sets a short wavelength limit at about 225 nm. Combined with the simultaneously recorded linear autocorrelation the spectral phase is reconstructed employing an iterative algorithm. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America