A diode laser spectrometer at 634nm and absolute frequency measurements using optical frequency comb

This paper reports that two identical external-cavity-diode-laser (ECDL) based spectrometers are constructed at 634 nm referencing on the hyperfine B-X transition R(80)8-4 of ¹²⁷I₂. The lasers are stabilized on the Doppler-free absorption signals using the third-harmonic detection technique. The instability of the stabilized laser is measured to be 2.8×10^-12 (after 1000 s) by counting the beat note between the two lasers. The absolute optical frequency of the transition is, for the first time, determined to be 472851936189.5 kHz by using an optical frequency comb referenced on the microwave caesium atomic clock. The uncertainty of the measurement is less than 4.9 kHz.     

Frequency stability measurement of a transfer-cavity-stabilized diode laser by using an optical frequency comb

We report results of frequency stability measurements of an extended cavity diode laser (ECDL) whose frequency is stabilized by a non-evacuated scanning transfer cavity. The transfer cavity is locked to a commercial frequency stabilized helium–neon laser. Frequency stability is measured by use of an optical frequency comb. The environmental perturbations (variations of temperature, air pressure, and humidity) are also simultaneously measured. The observed frequency drift of the ECDL is well explained by environmental perturbations. An atmospheric pressure variation, which is difficult to control with a non-evacuated cavity, is mainly affected to the frequency stability. Thus we put the cavity into a simple O-ring sealed (non-evacuated) tube. With this simple O-ring sealed tube, the frequency drift is reduced by a factor of 3, and the Allan variance reaches a value of 2.4×10⁻¹⁰, corresponds to the frequency stability of 83 kHz, at the average time of 3000 s. Since the actual frequency drift is well estimated by simultaneous measurement of the ambient temperature, pressure, and humidity, a feed-forward compensation of frequency drifts is also feasible in order to achieve a higher frequency stability with a simple non-evacuated transfer cavity.     

飞秒光梳和碘稳频532nm Nd:YAG激光频率的测量

报道了中国计量科学研究院研制的基于掺钛蓝宝石(Ti:Sapphire)锁模飞秒脉冲激光器的飞秒光学频率梳装置，并利用此装置测量了碘稳频532nm(¹²⁷I₂R(56)32-10) Nd∶YAG固体激光器的频率，结果为 563260223512991±20Hz,相对不确定度为3.6×10^-14.这一数值是直接溯源到铯原子微波频率基准的光学频率测量结果.     

Accurate frequency atlas of molecular iodine near 532 nm measured by an optical frequency comb generator

An optical frequency comb generator (OFCG) at 1064 nm with a modulation frequency of 2 GHz is developed for an accurate optical frequency link between iodine absorption lines near 532 nm. With the OFCG, we have measured frequency differences between seventeen ¹²⁷I₂ transitions with a measurement uncertainty of about 240 Hz (relatively 4.3×10⁻¹³), which is mainly contributed from the frequency repeatability of iodine-stabilized Nd:YAG lasers. The measured transitions provide an attractive frequency reference network and are excellent candidates for the practical realization of the meter.     

Precise determination of characteristic laser frequencies by an Er-doped fiber optical frequency comb

Femtosecond optical frequency combs correlate the microwave and optical frequencies accurately and coherently. Therefore, any optical frequency in visible to near-infrared region can be directly traced to a microwave frequency. As a result, the length unit "meter" is directly related to the time unit "second". This paper validates the capability of the national wavelength standards based on a home-made Er-doped fiber femtosecond optical frequency comb to measure the laser frequencies ranging from visible to near-infrared region. Optical frequency conversion in the femtosecond optical frequency comb is achieved by combining spectral broadening in a highly nonlinear fiber with a single-point frequency-doubling scheme. The signal-to-noise ratio of the beat notes between the femtosecond optical frequency comb and the lasers at 633, 698, 729, 780, 1064, and 1542 nm is better than 30 dB. The frequency instability of the above lasers is evaluated by using a hydrogen clock signal with a instability of better than 1×10^-13 at 1-s averaging time. The measurement is further validated by measuring the absolute optical frequency of an iodine-stabilized 532-nm laser and an acetylene-stabilized 1542-nm laser. The results are within the uncertainty range of the international recommended values. Our results demonstrate the accurate optical frequency measurement of lasers at different frequencies using the femtosecond optical frequency comb, which is not only important for the precise and accurate traceability and calibration of the laser frequencies, but also provides technical support for establishing the national wavelength standards based on the femtosecond optical frequency comb.     

Sweep optical frequency synthesizer with a distributed-Bragg-reflector laser injection locked by a single component of an optical frequency comb

A sweep optical frequency synthesizer is demonstrated by using a frequency-stabilized optical frequency comb and injection-locked distributed-Bragg-reflector (DBR) laser diode. The injection-locked DBR laser acts as a single-frequency filter and, simultaneously, a high-gain amplifier of the optical frequency comb. The frequency instability of the heterodyne beat signal between two independently injection-locked DBR lasers is measured to be 2.3 x 10(-16) at 1 s averaging time. The output frequency of the sweep optical frequency synthesizer can be precisely tuned over 1 GHz, and a saturated absorption spectrum of the Cs D2 line at 852 nm is recorded by the injected DBR laser.     

Generation of a 660-2100 nm laser frequency comb based on an erbium fiber laser

We present a multibranch laser frequency comb based upon a 250 MHz mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser that spans more than 300 THz of bandwidth, from 660 nm to 2100 nm. Light from a mode-locked Er:fiber laser is amplified and then broadened in highly-nonlinear fiber to produce substantial power at ～1050 nm. This light is subsequently amplified in Yb:fiber to produce 1.2 nJ, 73 fs pulses at 1040 nm. Extension of the frequency comb into the visible is achieved by supercontinuum generation from the 1040 nm light. Comb coherence is verified with cascaded f-2f interferometry and comparison to a frequency stabilized laser.     

Characterization of an optical frequency comb using modified direct frequency comb spectroscopy

We introduce a method for determination of the absolute frequencies of comb lines within an optical frequency comb spectrum. The method utilizes the experimental and theoretical approach of the velocity-selective optical pumping of the atomic ground state hyperfine levels induced by resonant pulse-train excitation. The information on the laser pulse repetition frequency and carrier–envelope offset are physically mapped onto the ⁸⁷Rb ground state hyperfine level population velocity distributions. Theoretical spectra are calculated using an iterative analytic solution of the optical Bloch equations describing the resonant pulse-train excitation of four-level ⁸⁷Rb atoms. They are employed to fit the measured spectra and obtain the parameters of the frequency comb, thus providing a practical algorithm which can be used in real-time measurements.     

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.     

Absolute molecular density determinations by direct referencing of a quantum cascade laser to an optical frequency comb

We propose a new approach to chemical gas analysis in the gas phase by direct referencing of a quantum cascade laser (QCL) to a near-infrared optical frequency comb. The concept was demonstrated through measurements of CO₂ molecular densities, reaching a precision of 0.2 %. Thanks to the robust phase lock of the QCL to the comb, absorption profiles could be recorded with high accuracy and repeatability by tuning the repetition rate of the comb. Such a scheme gave us the opportunity to test a variety of semiclassical line-shape models, accounting for both Dicke narrowing and speed-dependent effects. The success of the speed-dependent Nelkin–Ghatak model, with a hypergeometric dependence of the pressure broadening coefficient on the absorber speed, was demonstrated. Finally, the dependence of molecular density determinations on the choice of the line-shape model was investigated, thus demonstrating the inadequacy of the Voigt profile.     

Coherence transfer from 1064 nm to 578 nm using an optically referenced frequency comb

A laser at 578 nm is phase-locked to an optical frequency comb(OFC) which is optically referenced to a subhertzlinewidth laser at 1064 nm. Coherence is transferred from 1064 nm to 578 nm via the OFC. By comparing with a cavitystabilized laser at 578 nm, the absolute linewidth of 1.1 Hz and the fractional frequency instability of 1.3 × 10-15 at an averaging time of 1 s for each laser at 578 nm have been determined, which is limited by the performance of the reference laser for the OFC.     

Characterization of an actively linearized ultrabroadband chirped laser with a fiber-laser optical frequency comb

The optical frequency sweep of an actively linearized, ultrabroadband, chirped laser source is characterized through optical heterodyne detection against a fiber-laser frequency comb. Frequency sweeps were measured over approximately 5 THz bandwidths from 1530 nm to 1570 nm. The dominant deviation from linearity resulted from the nonzero dispersion of the fiber delay used as a reference for the sweep linearization. Removing the low-order dispersion effects, the residual sweep nonlinearity was less than 60 kHz rms, corresponding to a constant chirp with less than 15 ppb deviation across the 5 THz sweep.     

Absolute frequency measurement of an acetylene-stabilized laser at 1542 nm

The absolute frequency of an acetylene-stabilized laser at 1542 nm is measured at its second harmonic (771 nm) by use of a femtosecond optical comb based on a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser. Frequency stability and reproducibility of the acetylene-stabilized laser are evaluated by the femtosecond comb with a H maser as a frequency reference. The absolute frequency of a laser diode stabilized on the P(16) transition of 13C2H2 is determined to be 194 369 569 383.6(1.3) kHz. The acetylene-stabilized laser serves as an important optical frequency standard for telecommunication applications.     

Design of waveguide-integrated semiconductor laser sources for optical frequency comb generation

A numerical study of threshold gain and modal dispersion in integrated semiconductor laser optical frequency comb sources is presented. We consider an example device where one of the cleaved facets of the laser is replaced by a short Bragg grating section and show that as many as 16 modes can be selected at the first harmonic of the underlying Fabry-Perot cavity. An intracavity approach to limiting the grating-induced dispersion that can be implemented directly through the grating profile is demonstrated.     

用于全光铯原子磁力仪的激光器稳频技术研究

全光铯原子磁力仪是采用光学的方法实现微弱磁场检测,激光频率稳定性直接影响磁力仪的灵敏度。分析了二向色性原子蒸气激光频率锁定(Dichroic atomic vapor laser lock DAVLL)技术用于稳定激光器频率的原理,及其在全光原子磁力仪中的应用优势,发现通常的二能级原子模型不适用于分析铯原子D2线的稳频。实验测量了不同磁场下铯原子D2线基态Fg=4和Fg=3跃迁的DAVLL光谱,发现16mT是实现DAVLL稳频的最佳磁场;在此磁场附近,基态Fg=4跃迁鉴频曲线零点相对于Fg=4→Fe=5跃迁会产生6MHz/mT的线性频移,基态Fg=3跃迁鉴频曲线零点相对于Fg=3→Fe=4线会产生-9MHz/mT的线性频移。     

基于飞秒光频梳的双频He-Ne激光器频率测量

利用光纤飞秒光频梳和外腔可调谐半导体激光器, 建立了一套双频He-Ne激光器频率测量系统. 选用铷钟作为系统的频率基准, 通过将外腔半导体激光锁定至光频梳使得其频率溯源至铷钟, 再利用外腔可调谐半导体激光与双频He-Ne激光器输出的正交偏振激光拍频, 同时测量两路正交偏振激光频率. 将可调谐半导体激光器锁定至光频梳第1894449个梳齿, 其绝对频率为473612190000.0±2.7 kHz, 相对不确定度为5.7×10^-12. 对商品双频He-Ne激光器进行频率测量实验, 双频He-Ne激光器水平方向偏振激光频率均值为473612229934 kHz, 竖直方向偏振激光频率均值为473612232111 kHz, 平均时间为1024 s的相对Allan标准差为5.2×10^-11, 频差均值为2.177 MHz, 标准偏差为2 kHz.     

Reliable high-efficiency high-brightness laser diode bars at 940 nm

High-quality InGaAs/AlGaAs laser diode bars emitting at 940 nm have been fabricated by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD). Two hundred and ten Watts maximum continuous-wave output power and a maximum power conversion efficiency of 60% at an output power of 72 W have been demonstrated for a single 1-cm-wide laser bar. These bars exhibit a very good beam quality of 5.7°×27.2° (full-width at half-maximum). Reliability test have been carried out for over 2000 h at 58 W at room temperature. Under these conditions, the extrapolated lifetime is 100,000 h, which suggests that AlGaAs-based lasers of proper designs could have similar long-term reliability as their Al-free counterpart.     

Continuous-wave light source at 317 nm based on frequency doubling of a diode laser

Received: 16 October 1997     

High power continuous wave Tm:YAP laser dual-end-pumped by laser diode at 795 nm

A high power continuous wave diode-pumped Tm:YAP laser at room temperature was presented in this paper. The Tm:YAP crystal with doped concentration of 3 at % for the experiment was c-cut with dimensions of 3 × 3 × 8 mm³. A 795 nm continuous wave laser diode in dual-end-pumped geometry was used to generate 1.94 μm laser output. At the pump power of 38.9 W, the highest output power reached 12.3 W by use of 15% output coupling, corresponding to optical conversion efficiency was 31.6% and the slope efficiency was 38.2%.