Instability of absolute phase, envelope delay, and carrier-envelope phase induced by motions of compressor diffraction gratings

Abstract

We found how absolute phase, envelope delay, and carrier-envelope phase (CEP) depend on the motion of gratings/mirrors in different types of compressors.The absolute phase depends on both the lateral and longitudinal displacements of the grating, with a characteristic scale of changes of 4𝜋/μm.Grating motions orthogonal to the bisectrix between the incident and reflected beams do not change the absolute phase.By moving the grating in this direction, it is possible to delay the pulse and change the CEP without changing the absolute phase.The characteristic change in the envelope delay due to longitudinal displacements and rotations is ≈ 5fs/μm and 8fs/μrad, respectively.The characteristic change in the CEP due to lateral displacements and rotations is 9𝜋/μm and 6𝜋/μrad.The rotation of the input mirror or the beam deflection at the compressor input for another reason does not affect the envelope delay or CEP to within the second order of smallness.