Compact, Ti:sapphire-based, methane-stabilized optical molecular frequency comb and clock.
A compact optical clock and frequency comb system is presented, based on a 1 GHz octave-spanning Ti:sapphire laser referenced to the F2(2)(P(7),v3) optical transition in methane at 3.39 microm. The reference methane transition is accessed by a stabilized HeNe laser in a compact transportable format. The output from the octave-spanning Ti:sapphire laser is used to generate a mid-IR comb at the reference wavelength 3.39 microm. Direct comparison of the stabilized optical frequency comb with an ultralow expansion glass cavity-stabilized diode laser at 674 nm shows an Allan deviation of the frequency comb of 3x10(-14) in 20 s.
Benedick
Andrew
A
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. andrew_b@mit.edu
Tyurikov
Dmitry
D
Gubin
Mikhail
M
Shewmon
Ruth
R
Chuang
Issac
I
Kärtner
Franz X
FX