title: Phase-locked widely tunable optical single-frequency generator based on a femtosecond comb.
abstract: We present an arbitrary optical single-frequency generator based on a femtosecond optical frequency comb. The functions of this device are comparable to those of a radio-frequency synthesizer. However, this device operates at hundreds of terahertz. The absolute frequency accuracy of this synthesizer is approximately 1 kHz at a 282 THz carrier frequency. The stability is approximately 2 x 10(-14) at 100 s, and the tuning speed exceeds 30 GHz/s. This source demonstrates the integration of a phase-locked optical comb into a versatile and easy-to-use system for the generation of tunable, absolute optical frequencies. By using downconversion, one could generate tunable terahertz frequencies that are phase locked to a microwave reference, such as a Cs atomic clock, and high-precision interferometry could benefit greatly from the stability and accuracy of this widely tunable source.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8563, Japan. t.schibli@aist.go.jp
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Schibli
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minoshima
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inaba
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bitou
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Onae
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumoto