Femtosecond-laser-based optical clockwork with instability</= less than or equal to 6.3 X 10(-16) in 1 s.
Two octave-spanning optical-frequency combs (750-MHz comb spacing) are phase locked to a common continuous-wave laser diode. The measured instability of the heterodyne beat between the two combs demonstrates that the intrinsic fractional frequency noise of a comb is </=6.3 chi 10(-16) in 1 s of averaging across the ~300-THz bandwidth. Furthermore, the average frequencies of the elements of the two combs are found to agree within an uncertainty of 4 chi 10(-17) across the entire octave. We demonstrate the possibility of transfering the stability and accuracy of the best current optical standards to ~500,000 individual oscillators across the visible and near-infrared spectrum.
Diddams
Scott A
SA
Hollberg
L
L
Ma
Long-Sheng
LS
Robertsson
Lennart
L