A single-shot, high-repetition rate scheme for electro-optic detection of short pulses

We consider the problem of shot-by-shot acquisition of pulse shapes at high repetition rate in accelerator-based systems. More specifically, we examine the two-step strategy consisting in (i) encoding the pulse information onto a laser pulse, and (ii) use the so-called time-stretch strategy to "slow-down" the information before recording. We thus show that the repetition rate of already existing electro-optic sampling setups can be straightforwardly increased up to the 100 x 10(6) pulses/s range, and make a demonstration for the detection of coherent THz pulses. The strategy is however not limited to electro-optic sampling of THz pulses or electron bunches. It can be applied to other types of wavelengths, provided the desired information (as e.g., FEL pulses or electron bunches shapes) can be imprinted onto a laser pulse.