Observation of propagating femtosecond light pulse train generated by an integrated array illuminator as a spatially and temporally continuous motion picture.

We observed a propagating femtosecond light pulse train generated by an integrated array illuminator as a spatially and temporally continuous motion picture. To observe the light pulse train propagating in air, light-in-flight holography is applied. The integrated array illuminator is an optical device for generating an ultrashort light pulse train from a single ultrashort pulse. The experimentally obtained pulse width and pulse interval were 130 fs and 19.7 ps, respectively. A back-propagating femtosecond light pulse train, which is the -2 order diffracted light pulse from the array illuminator and which is difficult to observe using conventional methods, was observed.