Single Microwire Optical Autocorrelator at 2-μm Wavelength

In recent years, significant efforts have been made to develop ultrafast laser source around 2- $\mu \text{m}$ wavelength. Meanwhile, the characterization of the ultrashort pulses within ultracompact footprints has been attracting growing interests. Here relying on the transverse second-harmonic generation in a single CdTe microwire, we successfully demonstrate an optical autocorrelator for femtosecond pulse characterization at 2- $\mu \text{m}$ wavelength. With 220-fs laser pulses (38 pJ/pulse) as input light, the measured pulse width after calibration is 236 fs, showing a good accuracy of this microwire autocorrelator. Due to the low-loss transmission window and high nonlinearity of CdTe in the mid-infrared (MIR) region, the microwire-based autocorrelator shows great potential for MIR applications ranging from on-chip optical communication to ultracompact laser spectroscopy.