Single-shot temporal coherence measurements of random lasing media

A new method, to our knowledge, is proposed that enables single-shot measurements of the temporal coherence properties of pulsed laser sources. By modification of a Michelson interferometer, two replicas of the source are formed. Owing to the symmetry of the configuration, the optical path difference and, consequently, the visibility of the resulting interference fringes are varied over one dimension. This effectively replaces the mechanical scanning performed in a typical interferometer and thereby provides a direct measurement of the temporal coherence of a single pulse. Our method is successfully applied to the study of the single-shot temporal coherence of a Rhodamine 6G-ZnO-poly(methyl methacrylate) random laser system.