Femtosoft FROG Software Packages

Femtosoft offers two software packages.

The FROG program (since 1996) reads data in from an ASCII data file, and then processes it. This means that your experimental apparatus must be able to save the FROG trace data to a disk, and that the retrieval does not happen in real time. The FROG program, however, contains the most powerful set of features and algorithms.

The QuickFrog program, a new offering (starting 2004), interfaces with a framegrabber device to continuously read data from the camera that senses the FROG signal. The retrieval of the pulse data therefore happens in real time, as the program runs continuously. QuickFrog is custom-designed to work with Swamp Optics GRENOUILLE devices.

Here is a matrix describing the features of the two programs:

Feature	FROG 3.1.x	QuickFrog 3.0
Data Source	ASCII data file	Framegrabber attached to camera (real-time)
Optical Nonlinearities	PG, SHG, SD, THG	Single-shot SHG (GRENOUILLE), SD
TADPOLE	Yes	No
XFROG	Yes	No
Speed	Most retrievals are finished in less than 60 seconds	Real-time: dozens of algorithm cycles per second. Typically, 10 camera frames are processed per second, and the GUI is updated 15 times per second.
Convergence Criteria	The program runs forever, continuously looking for a lower error. The user decides when enough is enough.	Runs continuously; various heuristics for determining convergence, but the current best result is constantly displayed.
Noise Subtraction	Various user-selectable noise subtraction algorithms are available, enabling the customization of the noise removal to that particular trace.	Automatic backgroud subtraction, or a standard background frame subtraction is used (user selectable).
Log files	After each run, writes the field vs time and frequency, the measured and retrieved FROG traces, the autocorrelation the marginals, and a record of the algorithm's progress, all as ASCII files.	At any point in time, the user may trigger an output, which outputs the field vs time and frequency, the measured and retrieved FROG traces, the autocorrelation as ASCII data. The FROG traces are also output as JPG and PNG files.
Generation of FROG traces from theoretical parameters.	Yes	No
Generation of FROG traces from electric field profiles.	Yes	No
Marginal Comparison	Yes	No
Select initial guess	Yes	No
Select algorithms to apply	Yes	No
Retailer	Femtosoft Technologies (Hikari and Luminex in Japan)	Femtosoft Technologies Swamp Optics Newport Corporation. The catalog number is UPM-SP-2 (bottom of page).
When to choose:	When you need the highest accuracy You don't need continuous retrieval You need TADPOLE, XFROG, or other optical nonlinearities.	When you have a single-shot SHG device (typically a GRENOUILLE) and you want to run the device as a continuous monitor of your laser pulse. Normally you would buy QuickFrog only if you buy a GRENOUILLE device from Swamp Optics, unless you build your own FROG devices.

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