Optical coherence pulsed interferometry: shaping probe pulses in time-domain interferometry

The autocorrelation of a modulated coherent light source is used as a probe pulse in a time-domain interferometry scheme. With respect to conventional techniques, higher flexibility in selecting the shape of the probe pulse can be achieved by simply acting on the modulation parameters. The complex amplitude of short pulses propagating through a generic optical device can be directly measured, with no need for fast sampling and time synchronization. The potentialities of the technique are shown by reporting measurements of amplitude distortion, group delay, and frequency chirp of optical pulses transmitted through integrated ring resonators.