Single-shot spatiotemporal vector field measurements of petawatt laser pulses

Abstract

The control of light’s various degrees of freedom underpins modern physics and technology, from quantum optics to telecommunications. Ultraintense lasers represent the pinnacle of this control, concentrating light to extreme intensities at which electrons oscillate at relativistic velocities within a single optical cycle. These extraordinary conditions offer unique opportunities to probe the fundamental aspects of light–matter interactions and develop transformative applications. However, the precise characterization of intense, ultrashort lasers has lagged behind our ability to generate them, creating a bottleneck in advancing laser science and its applications. Here we present the first single-shot vector field measurement technique for intense, ultrashort laser pulses that provides an unprecedented insight into their complete spatiotemporal and polarization structure, including quantified uncertainties. Our method efficiently encodes the full vector field onto a two-dimensional detector by leveraging the inherent properties of these laser pulses, allowing for real-time characterization. We demonstrate its capabilities on systems ranging from high-repetition-rate oscillators to petawatt-class lasers, revealing subtle spatiotemporal couplings and polarization effects. This advancement bridges the gap between theory and experiment in laser physics, providing crucial data for simulations and accelerating the development of novel applications in high-field physics, laser–matter interactions, future energy solutions and beyond.