Wideband frequency modulation of a mode-locked fiber laser

We have demonstrated wideband frequency modulation of the frequency comb lines of a high-repetition-rate fiber laser. With a modulation frequency of only approximately 10 kHz, we have generated modulation indices in excess of 250. Although internally modulated, the laser remains stable with 2-kHz linewidths, and thus the 10-kHz modulation sidebands are still clearly resolved even after propagation over several hundred kilometers. This unique characteristic is used for simultaneous measurement of propagation distances to 1-m resolution and velocities of less than 3 mm/s over a distance of greater than 50 km.     

Orthogonal control of the frequency comb dynamics of a mode-locked laser diode

We have performed detailed studies on the dynamics of a frequency comb produced by a mode-locked laser diode (MLLD). Orthogonal control of the pulse repetition rate and the pulse-to-pulse carrier-envelope phase slippage is achieved by appropriate combinations of the respective error signals to actuate the diode injection current and the saturable absorber bias voltage. Phase coherence is established between the MLLD at 1550 nm and a 775-nm mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser working as part of an optical atomic clock.     

Accurate frequency control of a mode-locked laser diode by reference-light injection

Injection locking is employed to narrow the spectrum linewidth of individual modes of an active mode-locked laser diode (ML-LD). The multiple modes of the injection-locked ML-LD lie over 3.0 THz with 25-GHz spacing at 30 dB down; their linewidth and stability, ~25 MHz, are nearly the same as those of the master laser. We also demonstrate the accurate frequency measurement of laser diodes stabilized to molecular (H(13)C (15)N ,(13)C(2)H (2)) absorption lines by use of the injection-locked ML-LD.     

Accurate measurement of large optical frequency differences with a mode-locked laser

We have used the comb of optical frequencies emitted by a mode-locked laser as a ruler to measure differences of as much as 20 THz between laser frequencies. This is to our knowledge the largest gap measured with a frequency comb, with high potential for further improvements. To check the accuracy of this approach we show that the modes are distributed uniformly in frequency space within the experimental limit of 3.0 parts in 10(17) . By comparison with an optical frequency comb generator we have verified that the mode separation equals the pulse repetition rate within the experimental limit of 6.0 parts in 10(16).     

Absolute frequency measurement of the In+ clock transition with a mode-locked laser

The absolute frequency of the In(+) 5s(2) (1)S(0)5s5p (3)P(0) clock transition at 237 nm was measured with an accuracy of 1.8 parts in 10(13). Using a phase-coherent frequency chain, we compared the (1)S(0)(3)P(0) transition with a methane-stabilized HeNe laser at 3.39 mum, which was calibrated against an atomic cesium fountain clock. A frequency gap of 37 THz at the fourth harmonic of the HeNe standard was bridged by a frequency comb generated by a mode-locked femtosecond laser. The frequency of the In(+) clock transition was found to be 1 267 402 452 899.92 (0.23) kHz, the accuracy being limited by the uncertainty of the HeNe laser reference. This result represents an improvement in accuracy of more than 2 orders of magnitude over previous measurements of the line and now stands as what is to our knowledge the most accurate measurement of an optical transition in a single ion.s.     

Difference frequency generation with a synchronously mode-locked cw dye laser system

The generation of continuous trains of tunable infra-red pulses by the nonlinear mixing of the wave-lengths available from a self-contained synchronously mode-locked cw dye laser is described. The factors determining the optimization of the process are identified and their roles demonstrated.     

Bloch oscillations in a homogeneous nucleotide chain

It is shown that, at zero temperature, a hole placed in a homogeneous synthetic nucleotide chain with applied electric field demonstrates Bloch oscillations. The oscillations of the hole placed initially on one of the base pairs arise in response to disruption of the initial charge distribution caused by nucleotide vibrations. The finite temperature fluctuations result in degradation of coherent oscillations. The maximum permissible temperature for DNA “Bloch oscillator” occurrence is estimated.     

Bloch oscillations of a soliton in a molecular chain

This paper presents the results of numerical experiments simulating Bloch oscillations of solitons in a deformable molecular chain subject to a constant electric field. By using as an example a homogeneous polynucleotide chain, it is shown that the system under consideration can exhibit complicated dynamical behaviour: when subject to field intensities less than a certain critical value, a soliton exhibits oscillations as a whole, while at field intensities exceeding this threshold, the soliton becomes a breather that oscillates. It is shown that the motion of a charge in a deformable chain is infinite, which in contrast to that in a rigid chain.     

Broad-spectrum frequency comb generation and carrier-envelope offset frequency measurement by second-harmonic generation of a mode-locked fiber laser

A frequency comb spanning more than one octave has been achieved by injecting the second-harmonic generation (780 nm) of a mode-locked fiber laser (1.56 microm) into a photonic crystal fiber. We propose and realize a novel interferometric scheme for observing the carrier-envelope offset frequency of the frequency comb. Frequency noise has been observed on the measured carrier-envelope offset frequency, which has been confirmed to be generated in the photonic crystal fiber by comparing the measured beat frequencies between cw lasers and frequency combs before and after the photonic crystal fiber. The mode-locked fiber laser is considered to be an important candidate for the light source used in realizing a compact optical frequency measurement system including applications in the telecommunication bands.     

Super Bloch oscillations in the Peyrard-Bishop-Holstein model

Recently, polarons in the Peyrard-Bishop-Holstein model under DC electric fields were established to perform Bloch oscillations, provided the charge-lattice coupling is not large. In this work, we study this model when the charge is subjected to an applied field with both DC and AC components. Similarly to what happens in the rigid lattice, we find that the carrier undergoes a directed motion or coherent oscillations when the AC field is resonant or detuned with respect to the Bloch frequency, respectively. The electric density current and its Fourier spectrum are also studied to reveal the frequencies involved in the polaron dynamics.     

Optical frequency counter based on two mode-locked fiber laser combs

This work demonstrates a semi-automatic optical frequency counter based on two mode-locked fiber laser combs. The mode number of the comb line involved in the optical frequency measurement is determined by operating the two laser combs at three different repetition rates, with two of them similar enough to have the same mode number of the beating comb lines. The determination of the mode number is independent of the frequency fluctuation of the laser under measurement. The whole measurement process was automated, except for the frequency stabilization of the laser combs and the optimization of the beat signal–to–noise ratio.     

Dual-wavelength synchronously mode-locked Tm-doped bulk laser with terahertz frequency beating

A dual-wavelength synchronously mode-locked homogeneously broadened bulk laser operating at 1985.6 and1989 nm is presented for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, which delivers a maximum output power of 166 m W and a repetition rate of 85 MHz. The pulse duration was measured to be 16.8 ps by assuming a sech~2 pulse shape. The recorded autocorrelation trace showed frequency beating signals with an interval of 3.8 ps and a full width at half-maximum duration of 2 ps, corresponding to an ultrahigh beating frequency of about0.26 THz, which agrees well with the frequency difference of the emitted two spectral peaks. The results indicated that such a kind of dual-wavelength mode-locked Tm:YAlO_3 laser could be potentially used for generating terahertz radiations.     

Observation of anharmonic Bloch oscillations

We report on the experimental observation of Bloch oscillations of an optical wave packet in a lattice with second-order coupling. To this end, we employ zigzag waveguide arrays, in which the second-order coupling can be precisely tuned.     

Demonstration of microwave frequency shifting by use of a highly chirped mode-locked fiber laser

We report an experimental demonstration of a photonic microwave shifter using a highly chirped mode-locked fiber laser. The system is based on dispersive compression or expansion of highly chirped optical pulses that are amplitude modulated by the microwave signal. Using this technique, we demonstrated frequency shifting of a microwave signal from 10 GHz down to 5 GHz and up to 25 GHz.     

Mechanism and elimination of spectrum filtering in a high power mode-locked fibre laser witha free output coupler

The filtering mechanism of a free output coupler mode-locked laser based on large-mode-area photonic-crystal fibre is analysed. A filtering-soliton mode-locked laser with 495~fs pulse width and 21 nJ pulse energy is achieved. Another novel cavity configuration is established to eliminate the filtering effect. Pulses, each 457~fs in width and 16.5 nJ in energy, are obtained in a soliton-like regime. Pulses, each 387~fs in width and 15.8 nJ in energy, are also generated in a stretched pulse regime and could be dechirped to 119~fs externally to the cavity.     

Bloch oscillations of path-entangled photons

We show that when photons in N-particle path-entangled |N,0)+|0,N) or N00N states undergo Bloch oscillations, they exhibit a periodic transition between spatially bunched and antibunched states. The period of the bunching-antibunching oscillation is N times faster than the period of the oscillation of the photon density, manifesting the unique coherence properties of N00N states. The transition occurs even when the photons are well separated in space.     

Damping of Bloch oscillations in the Hubbard model

Using nonequilibrium dynamical mean-field theory, we study the isolated Hubbard model in a static electric field in the limit of weak interactions. Linear response behavior is established at long times, but only if the interaction exceeds a critical value, below which the system exhibits an ac-type response with Bloch oscillations. The transition from ac to dc response is defined in terms of the universal long-time behavior of the system, which does not depend on the initial condition.