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A frequency-stabilized Yb:KYW femtosecond laser frequency comb and its application to low-phase noise microwave generation
Published
Author(s)
Scott A. Diddams, Stephanie Meyer, Tara M. Fortier, Steve Lecomte
Abstract
We present an optically-stabilized Yb:KYW fs-laser frequency comb. We use an f-2f nonlinear interferometer to measure the carrier envelope offset frequency (f0) and the heterodyne beatnote between the comb and a stable CW laser at 1068 nm to detect fluctuations in the comb repetition rate (frep). Both of these degrees of freedom of the comb are then controlled using phase-locked loops. As a demonstration of the frequencystabilized comb, we generate low-phase-noise 10 GHz microwaves through detection of the pulse train on a high bandwidth photodiode. The Allan deviation of the resulting 10 GHz microwaves was measured to be -15 at 1 s by comparison to an independently-stabilized Ti:Sapphire frequency comb. This room-temperature, optically-based source of microwaves has close-to-carrier phase noise comparable to the very best cryogenic microwave oscillators.
Diddams, S.
, Meyer, S.
, Fortier, T.
and Lecomte, S.
(2013),
A frequency-stabilized Yb:KYW femtosecond laser frequency comb and its application to low-phase noise microwave generation, Applied Physics B
(Accessed October 9, 2025)