  The dispersion scan (d-scan) technique has emerged as a simple-to-implement
characterization method for ultrashort laser pulses. D-scan traces are
intuitive to interpret and retrieval algorithms that are both fast and robust
have been developed to obtain the spectral phase and the temporal pulse
profile. Here, we give a review of the d-scan technique based on second
harmonic generation. We describe and compare recent implementations for the
characterization of few- and multi-cycle pulses as well as two different
approaches for recording d-scan traces in single-shot, thus showing the
versatility of the technique.
