Self-referencing a CW laser with efficient nonlinear optics

Published

July 26, 2015

Author(s)

Scott B. Papp, Katja M. Beha, Daniel C. Cole, Pascal P. Del'Haye, Aurelien C. Coillet, Scott A. Diddams

Abstract

We phase-coherently measure the frequency of continuous-wave (CW) laser light by use of optical-phase modulation and 'f-2f' nonlinear interferometry. Periodic electro-optic modulation (EOM) transforms the CW laser into a continuous train of picosecond optical pulses. Subsequent nonlinear-fiber broadening of this EOM frequency comb produces a supercontinuum with 160 THz of bandwidth. A critical intermediate step is optical filtering of the EOM comb to reduce electronic-noise-induced decoherence of the supercontinuum. Applying f-2f self-referencing with the supercontinuum yields the carrier-envelope offset frequency of the EOM comb, which is precisely the difference of the CW laser frequency and an exact integer multiple of the EOM pulse repetition rate. Here we demonstrate optical frequency metrology and synthesis applications of the CW laser with -14 fractional accuracy and precision.

Conference Dates

July 26-31, 2015

Conference Location

Lihue, HI

Conference Title

Proceedings of Nonlinear Optics Conference

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

integrated optics, Optical frequency combs, precision metrology

Citation

Papp, S. , Beha, K. , Cole, D. , Del'Haye, P. , Coillet, A. and Diddams, S. (2015), Self-referencing a CW laser with efficient nonlinear optics, Proceedings of Nonlinear Optics Conference, Lihue, HI (Accessed April 25, 2024)