Temporal and spectral analysis of the synchronization of synchroscan streak cameras

A stochastic model has been developed to explain the well-known experimental results in synchroscan measurements with actively mode-locked lasers demonstrating that in the configuration where the synchronization is carried out by means of the ultrastable oscillator exciting the acoustooptic mode-locker of the laser, the overall temporal resolution is considerably worse than in the case where the deflection is performed by the electric signal directly derived from the optical recurrent pulses. The calculations including both random period fluctuations of the laser pulses and temporal jitter due to the electronic trigger system are corroborated by experimental investigations. The study shows that even in the presence of the phase noise in the laser beam, a jitter free synchronization can be achieved.