Measurement of the autocorrelation factor for common pulses

Summary form only given. For a Gaussian pulse, the SHG autocorrelation factor is 1.414 and for a sech/sup 2/ it is 1.543. For autocorrelation measurements, these values are assumed independent of the actual pulse shape. More rigorous data fitting methods can often offer a better pulse shape, with some chance of ambiguity. To test this assumption, autocorrelation factors were calculated for pulses distorted by linear and higher-order dispersion.