Abstract
We demonstrate ultrasensitive intensity autocorrelation measurements of subpicosecond optical pulses in the telecommunication band by using aperiodically poled lithium niobate (A-PPLN) waveguides. The tightly confined optical beam in the waveguides and the chirped poling period facilitate simultaneous high second-harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency and broad phase-matching (PM) bandwidth. The resulting measurement sensitivity is 3.2 × 10 -7 mW 2 , ∼500 times better than the previous record for intensity autocorrelations. We also show that chirped A-PPLN waveguides retain nearly the same SHG efficiency as the unchirped guide as long as the PM bandwidth is not significantly broader than the input spectrum. © 2004 Optical Society of America.