Digital holography (DH) technique allows obtaining quantitative amplitude- and phase-contrast images. However, there are only several attempts to use advantages of digital holography in time resolved manner. Herewith we demonstrate that combination of conventional off-axis DH and ultrashort probing laser pulses results in versatile tool suitable for ultra-fast phenomena studies. We demonstrate its applications in spatial-temporal characterization of ionizing pre-damage propagation of femtosecond pulses in transparent material as well as characterization of post-damage ablation processes in metals. Phase-and amplitude-contrast images are obtained in single-shot mode with the best to our knowledge temporal resolution of ≈ 30 fs.

Date Published: 31 December 2009
PDF: 13 pages
Proc. SPIE 7504, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2009, 75040O (31 December 2009); doi: 10.1117/12.836473

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7504:
Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2009
Gregory J. Exarhos; Vitaly E. Gruzdev; Detlev Ristau; M. J. Soileau; Christopher J. Stolz, Editor(s)