title: Broadband optical serrodyne frequency shifting.
abstract: We demonstrate serrodyne frequency shifting of light from 200 MHz to 1.2 GHz with an efficiency of better than 60%. The frequency shift is imparted by an electro-optic phase modulator driven by a high-frequency high-fidelity sawtooth waveform that is passively generated by a commercially available nonlinear transmission line. We also implement a push-pull configuration using two serrodyne-driven phase modulators, allowing for continuous tuning between -1.6 GHz and +1.6 GHz. Compared with competing technologies, this technique is simple and robust, and it offers the largest available tuning range in this frequency band.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA. david.m.johnson@stanford.edu
authors.forename: D M S
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.forename: S-w
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chiow
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kasevich