Deriving x-ray pulse duration from center-of-energy shifts in THz-streaked ionized electron spectra.

A fast and robust, yet simple, method has been developed for the immediate characterization of x-ray pulse durations via IR/THz streaking that uses the center of energy (COE) of the photoelectron spectrum for the evaluation. The manuscript presents theory and numerical models demonstrating that the maximum COEs shift as a function of the pulse duration and compares them to existing data for validation. It further establishes that the maximum COE can be derived from two COE measurements set at a phase of π/2 apart. The theory, model, and data agree with each other very well, and they present a way to measure pulse durations ranging from sub-fs to tens of fs on-the-fly with a fairly simple experimental setup.