Spatially-dependent group delay dispersion from a diffraction grating and its application to the single-shot d-scan technique

Diffraction gratings are among the most fundamental optical elements. They are essential in ultrafast optics for manipulating the spectral phase of coherent ultrashort light pulses in grating stretchers, compressors, and 4f pulse shapers. In this work, we have exploited an effect associated with diffraction from a single grating, which can produce large amounts of spatially-dependent group delay dispersion. Leveraging this effect, we propose a novel single-shot dispersion-scan technique, enabling the characterization of longer pulse durations than previously possible, with arbitrary chirp. We demonstrate this method by measuring 170 fs pulses from a commercial ytterbium-based laser system, both before and after post-compression in a multi-pass cell.