Phase-locked widely tunable optical single-frequency generator based on a femtosecond comb.
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.
Schibli
T R
TR
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, 1-1-1 Umezono, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8563, Japan. t.schibli@aist.go.jp
Minoshima
K
K
Hong
E L
EL
Inaba
H
H
Bitou
Y
Y
Onae
A
A
Matsumoto
H
H