Rapid programmable 300 ps optical delay scanner and signal-averaging system for ultrafast measurements

A device is presented that sweeps out programmable optical delays of 300 ps (or less) at 30 Hz, with shorter-delay scans possible at much higher rates. It is compact, vibration-free, linear to within 0.02%, and has a position repeatability of 1 part in 105. With this scanner and a PC-based signal-averaging data acquisition system, ultrafast autocorrelation measurements with very high signal/noise are demonstrated in both the fs and ps domains.