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11.2: Electro-Optic Sampling

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    Electro-Optic Sampling was invented by Valdmanis and Mourou in the early 1980’s [8][5]. Its is based on polarization rotation of a short laser pulse when propagating in a medium showing a linear electro-optic effect. The polarization rotation is due to an applied electric filed, i.e. the optical pulse samples the instantaneous electric field, see Fig.11.6

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    Figure 11.6: Electro-optic sampling scheme according ot J. Whitaker, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

    Figure by MIT OCW.

    In Figure 11.6 a electic transient is generated with a photo-conductive switch activated by a femtosecond laser pulse. A delayed pulse samples the transient electronic pulse with an electro-optic probe as shown in Figure 11.7.

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    Figure 11.7: LiTaO3−Electro-Otpic Probe according to J. Whitaker, Univ. Michigan.

    Figure by MIT OCW.

    Figure 11.8 shows an overal version of an electro-optic sampling system according to J. Whitaker, Univ. of Michigan [6]

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    Figure 11.8: Electro-Otpic Sampling System according to J. Whitaker, Univ. Michigan.

    Figure by MIT OCW.

    This page titled 11.2: Electro-Optic Sampling is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Franz X. Kaertner (MIT OpenCourseWare) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.