Determination of the refractive index over a wide wavelength range through time-delay measurements of femtosecond pulses

We present a simple method to measure the refractive index dispersion over a broad wavelength range (0.6-1.6 μm). In a first step, the optical group indices are obtained by measuring the time-retardation of tunable 150 fs laser pulses within a sample relative to air. The refractive index dispersion is then calculated using a Sellmeier equation that describes the measured group index dispersion. We show that our experimental data agree with previously published results to within 2 × 10−4 for a 3 mm thick sample of fused silica and to within 3 × 10−3 for the index n1 of a 2 mm thick crystal of the highly dispersive and anisotropic organic crystal 4-N,N-dimethylamino-4′-N′-methyl stilbazolium tosylate (DAST).