Abstract

The spatial profile of a femtosecond pulse front can suffer a considerable distortion upon propagation through a lens having chromatic aberration.^1-4 The effect is due to the difference between the phase and group velocity of the light in the material of the lens. The pulse front behind the lens was calculated as the superposition of the fields of Fourier spectral components of the 6-fs long input pulse.⁵ The longitudinal chromatic aberration of fifte fens (620 nm, maieriaf BK7, f = 30 mm) was taken into account.

© 1992 Optical Society of America