Time-frequency characterization of high-order harmonic pulses

We present energy-resolved cross-correlation measurements of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses generated as high harmonics of femtosecond pulses from a 1 kHz titanium-sapphire laser. The harmonic pulses are probed by a fraction of the fundamental laser pulse at 800 nm, in a noncollinear geometry, allowing us to vary independently the parameters of the harmonic pump and near-infrared probe pulses. We measure the so-called sidebands in the photoelectron spectrum of argon corresponding to the absorption of a harmonic photon plus or minus one probe photon. Spectrally resolving the cross-correlation signal allows us to characterize the time-dependent frequency of the XUV pulse.Received: 20 December 2002, Published online: 24 April 2003PACS: 42.65.Ky Harmonic generation, frequency conversion