Ultra-short pulse reconstruction software in high power laser system

An ultra-short pulse reconstruction software, validated through a set of experimental measurements on the front-end of the Vulcan laser at the RAL Central Laser Facility is presented. The measurements were acquired in Target Area Petawatt of the Vulcan laser, both using a conventional autocorrelation technique and the GRENOUILLE technique in order to compare the results. The FWHM of the laser pulses considered came out to be comparable for the two techniques. In this experimental campaign for the first time a technique different from the autocorrelation one has been used for a PW class laser as Vulcan.