title: High-performance, vibration-immune, fiber-laser frequency comb.
abstract: We demonstrate an environmentally robust optical frequency comb based on a polarization-maintaining, all-fiber, figure-eight laser. The comb is phase locked to a cavity-stabilized cw laser by use of an intracavity electro-optic phase modulator yielding 1.6 MHz feedback bandwidth. This high bandwidth provides close to shot-noise-limited residual phase noise between the comb and cw reference laser of -94 dBc/Hz from 20 Hz to 200 kHz and an integrated in-loop phase noise of 32 mrad from 1 Hz to 1 MHz. Moreover, the comb remains phase locked under significant mechanical vibrations of over 1 g. This level of environmental robustness is an important step toward a fieldable fiber frequency comb.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80305, USA. esther.baumann@nist.gov
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.forename: Fabrizio R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Giorgetta
authors.forename: Jeffrey W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Swann
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Coddington
authors.forename: Nathan R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Newbury