A single-grating monochromator can be used for the spectral selection of ultrashort pulses without altering in a significant way the pulse duration, provided that the number of illuminated grooves is equal to the resolution. Two configurations are compared: the classical-diffraction mount (CDM) and the off-plane mount (OPM). The advantages and drawbacks of both configurations are presented. The two geometries can be joined in a new and innovative design of a monochromator with two interchangeable diffracting stages both used at grazing incidence, one with the gratings in the CDM and the other in the OPM. The use of two stages gives great flexibility: the OPM stage is used for sub-50 fs time response and low spectral resolution and the CDM stage for 100-200 fs time response and high spectral resolution. The design overcomes the limits of the two single configurations, giving on the same instrument either ultrafast response with low spectral resolution or slower response with higher resolution.
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