Optimization of genetic algorithm for reconstruction of cross-phase modulation frequency-resolved optical gating data.

We implemented a frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) measurement method using cross-phase modulation in a highly birefringent microstructure optical fiber. The standard FROG data reconstruction algorithm of generalized projection failed for this setup and we successfully used the genetic algorithm (GA) instead which is less prone to get stuck to local minima. GA has several parameters that must be set up to suitable values. We describe the experimental setup and the algorithm and present our findings on what GA parameters are crucial and what are their optimal values. A single run of the algorithm takes 7 min on contemporary CPUs, making the algorithm suitable for routine laboratory work. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]