Phase-locked, erbium-fiber-laser-based frequency comb in the near infrared

A phase-locked frequency comb in the near infrared is demonstrated with a mode-locked, erbium-doped, fiber laser whose output is amplified and spectrally broadened in dispersion-flattened, highly nonlinear optical fiber to span from 1100 to >2200 nm. The supercontinuum output comprises a frequency comb with a spacing set by the laser repetition rate and an offset by the carrier-envelope offset frequency, which is detected with the standard f-to-2f heterodyne technique. The comb spacing and offset frequency are phase locked to a stable rf signal with a fiber stretcher in the laser cavity and by control of the pump laser power, respectively. This infrared comb permits frequency metrology experiments in the near infrared in a compact, fiber-laser-based system.     

All-fiber Yb:fiber frequency comb

We demonstrate an all-fiber Yb:fiber frequency comb with a nonlinear-amplifying-loop-mirror-based Yb:fiber laser oscillator. The fiber-spliced hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber was used as dispersion compensator, which was also directly spliced to a piece of tapered photonic crystal fiber for an octave-spanning spectrum. The spectrum of the compressed 107 fs laser pulses was broadened, covering 600 nm to 1300 nm in a high-nonlinearity tapered fiber for f to 2 f beating. The signal-to-noise ratio of offset frequency was measured to be 22 dB.     

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.     

覆盖可见光波长的掺Er光纤飞秒光学频率梳

飞秒光学频率梳波长覆盖范围向可见光波长扩展对于碘稳频激光的绝对频率测量以及光钟研究中钟激光的绝对频率测量都具有十分重要的意义. 本文在自行研制掺Er光纤飞秒光学频率梳的基础上, 采用放大-倍频-扩谱的方案, 实现了激光输出波长向可见光波长的扩展. 掺Er光纤飞秒光学频率梳输出的一部分光激光脉冲, 功率约为8 mW, 首先经掺Er光纤放大器将功率提高到531 mW, 此后利用MgO: PPLN晶体倍频, 倍频后激光的功率为170 mW, 倍频效率为32%, 脉冲宽度为85 fs. 倍频后的激光通过光子晶体光纤进行光谱展宽. 通过优化入射光偏振状态可以实现波长覆盖500-1000 nm, 输出功率为85 mW, 耦合效率为50%. 采用小型化碘稳频532 nm Nd: YAG激光器输出激光与光学频率梳光谱展宽后的激光进行拍频可以获得30 dB的拍频信号. 覆盖可见光波长的掺Er光纤飞秒光学频率梳为可见光范围内激光的绝对频率测量提供了技术手段.     

基于数字相干叠加的相干光正交频分复用系统中光纤非线性容忍性研究

光正交频分复用系统中的光纤非线性效应制约着系统进一步的扩容. 针对此问题, 提出一种数字相干叠加的方法, 用于提高相干光正交频分复用系统对光纤非线性的容忍性. 仿真中, 5通道的波分复用下偏振复用相干光正交频分复用系统的每个通道传输四进制正交振幅调制映射的71.53 Gbit/s信号在光纤中传输400 km. 首先, 通道间隔为25 GHz, 与传统相干光正交频分复用系统相比, 色散补偿前后, 使用数字相干叠加的相干光正交频分复用系统的信噪比分别提升了6.02 dB和9.05 dB, 最佳入纤光功率均增大了2 dB; 其次, 通道间隔为50 GHz, 色散补偿前后, 信噪比分别提升了4.9 dB和8.75 dB. 通过理论推导及仿真, 验证了所提方法能有效消除相干光正交频分复用系统的一阶非线性失真, 进而提高系统对光纤非线性的容忍性.     

Reduction of frequency fading and imperfect frequency response with pre-emphasis technique in OFDM-ROF systems

In this paper, a novel technique is proposed and experimentally demonstrated to reduce the effect of frequency fading (FF) and imperfect frequency response in direct-detection (DD) optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-radio-over-fiber (OFD-MROF) systems. To overcome FF effect in the optical fiber and imperfect frequency response in the optical and electrical devices at the high frequency, we pre-emphasize the power of the millimeter wave (mm-wave) OFDM sub-carriers appropriately in the center station. Experimental result of the proposed system shows the received sensitivity has been improved about 2 dB at the BER of 1 × 10^− 4 after 50 km SSMF transmission for 2.5 Gb/s OFDM signal carried on 60 GHz optical mm-wave compared to the original system without pre-emphasis technique.     

Elimination of pump-induced frequency jitter on fiber-laser frequency combs

Optical frequency combs generated by femtosecond fiber lasers typically exhibit significant frequency noise that causes broad optical linewidths, particularly in the comb wings and in the carrier-envelope offset frequency (f(ceo)) signal. We show these broad linewidths are mainly a result of white amplitude noise on the pump diode laser that leads to a breathing-like motion of the comb about a central fixed frequency. By a combination of passive noise reduction and active feedback using phase-lead compensation, this noise source is eliminated, thereby reducing the f(ceo) linewidth from 250 kHz to <1 Hz. The in-loop carrier-envelope offset phase jitter, integrated to 100 kHz, is 1.3 rad.     

Frequency-stabilized Yb:fiber comb with a tapered single-mode fiber

We demonstrate a stable Yb:fiber frequency comb with supercontinuum generation by using a specially designed tapered single-mode fiber, in which a spectrum spanning from 500 nm to 1500 nm is produced. The carrier-envelope offset signal of the Yb:fiber comb is measured with a signal-to-noise ratio of more than 40 dB and a linewidth narrower than120 k Hz. The repetition rate and carrier-envelope offset signals are simultaneously phase locked to a microwave reference frequency.     

光频链接的双光梳气体吸收光谱测量

双光梳光谱技术以其无运动部件快速采样、高分辨率探测等优势成为宽带激光光谱测量中的热点技术.但受限于常用微波锁定双光梳光源间的噪声特性,双光梳光谱技术仍难以发挥其探测潜能.本文报道一种光频域互相链接的双光梳光谱探测方案.通过将两台激光器的偏置频率同时锁定到一个窄线宽激光器上,既免去了结构复杂且成本高昂的非线性自参考系统,又将双光梳间的共同参考点设置到了光频范围,抑制了双光梳光谱采样抖动,实现光谱探测性能的提升.~(13)C_2H_2的ν_1+ν_3 P支光谱数据测量数据分析结果表明:谱线位置与文献结果符合良好,光谱分辨率为0.086 cm~(-1),信噪比200:1(62.5 ms,100幅平均),相应的秒均噪声等效吸收系数达6.0×10~(-6)cm~(-1)·Hz~(-1/2).该工作为双光梳光谱测量的实际应用提供了一种高精度、低成本、易于实现的解决方案.     

Ultralow phase noise microwave generation with an Er:fiber-based optical frequency divider

We present an optical frequency divider based on a 200 MHz repetition rate Er:fiber mode-locked laser that, when locked to a stable optical frequency reference, generates microwave signals with absolute phase noise that is equal to or better than cryogenic microwave oscillators. At 1 Hz offset from a 10 GHz carrier, the phase noise is below -100 dBc/Hz, limited by the optical reference. For offset frequencies >10 kHz, the phase noise is shot noise limited at -145 dBc/Hz. An analysis of the contribution of the residual noise from the Er:fiber optical frequency divider is also presented.     

光纤飞秒光学频率梳的研制及绝对光学频率测量

实验利用商品光纤飞秒激光器,自行构建了一套完整的光学频率梳系统,并获得了约30 dB信噪比的系统频移(f_ceo)信号.实现了光频梳重复频率(f_rep)信号及系统频移(f_ceo)信号的高稳定度锁定,并通过实验验证了光频梳锁定的跟踪精度.基于此稳定光频梳完成了对1064 nm碘稳频Nd:YAG固体激光器的绝对频率测量.实验结果表明,f_rep的跟踪精度在100 s取样时间时优于3.7×10^-14,测量得到的1064 nm激光器绝对频率为:281630111757362 Hz.这一测量结果与国际计量委员会(CIPM)给出的国际推荐值符合到不确定度之内. 关键词： 光纤光频梳 稳频 锁相技术 光学频率计量     

All polarization-maintaining Er:fiber-based optical frequency comb for frequency comparison of optical clocks

We demonstrate an optical frequency comb (OFC) based on a turnkey mode-locked laser with a figure-9-shape structure and polarization-maintaining fibers, for the comparison of frequency among optical clocks with wavelengths of 698 nm, 729 nm, 1068 nm, and 1156 nm. We adopt a multi-branch approach in order to produce high power OFC signals at these specific wavelengths, enabling the signal-to-noise ratio of the beatnotes between the OFC and the clock lasers to exceed 30 dB at a resolution bandwidth of 300 kHz. This approach makes the supercontinuum spectra much easier to be generated than a single branch OFC. However, more out-of-loop fibers degrade the long-term frequency instability due to thermal drift. To minimize the thermal drift effect, we set the fiber lengths of different branches to be similar, and we stabilize the temperature as well. The out-of-loop frequency instability of the OFC due to the incoherence of the multi-branch is about 5.5×10^-19 for 4000 s, while the in-loop frequency instability of f_ceo and that of f_beat are 7.5×10^-18 for 1 s and 8.5×10^-18 for 1 s, respectively. The turnkey OFC meets the requirement for the comparison of frequency between the best optical clocks.     

Blind frequency offset estimation based on cyclic prefix and virtual subcarriers in CO-OFDM system

A new blind frequency offset estimation method based on cyclic prefix and virtual subcarriers in coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing （CO-OFDM） system is presented. It is able to estimate the fractional part and integral part of frequency offset at the same time. Its estimation range is about [-3.5 GHz, 3.5 GHz]. The influence of the integral frequency offset is comprehensively analyzed in COOFDM system. Its performances in the additive white Gaussian noise （AWGN） channel and the dispersive channel are investigated, respectively. Simulation results indicate that even in the dispersive channel, when the optical signal-to-noise ratio （OSNR） is low, it can still work very well.     

基于光纤的光学频率传递研究

随着光钟研究的发展, 光钟的稳定度和不确定度均达到10^-18量级. 通过光纤可以实现光钟频率信号的高精度传输, 有望用于未来“秒”定义的复现. 演示了百公里级实验室光纤上的光学频率传递. 对于在实验室70 km光纤盘上实现的光频传递, 光纤相位噪声抑制在1-250 Hz傅里叶频率范围内均接近于光纤延时极限, 对应传输稳定度(Allan偏差)为秒级稳定度1.2×10^-15, 10000 s稳定度为1.4×10^-18. 实验室100 km光纤的光频传递秒级稳定度也达到了5×10^-15. 提出了光纤噪声用户端补偿的方案, 可以简化星形传递网络中心站的复杂度. 在25 km光纤上演示了该传递方案, 实现的传输稳定度接近传统前置补偿传递方案.     

200 km沙漠链路高精度光纤时频传递关键技术研究

针对沙漠环境实地链路存在的温度变化大、室外风力、地表振动等多种复杂噪声来源,通过对系统反馈补偿带宽、反馈补偿强度、光功率等时频传递系统关键参数的优化配置,研究了不同反馈补偿参数下复杂链路噪声的有效抑制技术.全链路的频率传递稳定度8×10~(-14)@1s,1×10~(-16)@1000 s,千秒尺度下时间信号传递的时间方差仅为1.2 ps.实现了氢钟信号在200 km量级沙漠环境实地链路的无损传输.该验证实验在基于短基线干涉测量的卫星测轨系统中发挥了重要作用.     

Brillouin-based fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor with optical preamplification

Optical preamplification has been used in a fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor based on spontaneous Brillouin scattering and the use of direct detection, resulting in improved signal-to-noise ratios. The fiber-based optical preamplifier system comprises a three-port circulator, an erbium-doped fiber amplifier with a small-signal gain of 27 dB, and a fiber Bragg grating with 47-GHz bandwidth. An improvement of 17 dB in the optical signal-to-noise ratio for the Brillouin signal is demonstrated in a 23-km sensor. The limit to the signal-to-noise ratio is attributed to spontaneous-spontaneous beat noise generated at the photodetector by amplified spontaneous emission from the optical amplifier.     

PPLN晶体差频测量飞秒激光脉冲的载波包络相移

在飞秒激光频率梳系统中，通常采用自参考技术测量飞秒激光脉冲的载波包络相移，但该技术需要采用光子晶体光纤进行光谱扩展从而增加了系统的不稳定性，这种技术已经制约了高稳定度的飞秒激光频率梳的发展.采用PPLN晶体差频法测量了宽谱钛宝石振荡器输出的7fs激光脉冲的载波包络频移，得到了大于30dB的拍频信号，为研制无光纤的新一代高稳定度光学频率梳奠定了基础.     

微波电光调制的布里渊散射分布式光纤传感技术

在分析布里渊散射分布式光纤传感器检测原理的基础上,针对布里渊散射光信号比较微弱且和瑞利散射光之间存在频移的特点,采用微波电光调制产生频率可调的参考光,和后向布里渊散射光进行相干检测,得到放大的布里渊散射光信号,再用高速模拟数字转换和存储叠加进行时序信号处理,最后得到分布式传感信号。给出了各部分实验过程和结果,得出与理论分析一致的布里渊散射光频谱和光强随温度升高而产生变化。实现了25km的分布式温度传感,初步实验结果证明了方案的可行性。     

Improved dichotomous search frequency offset estimator for burst-mode continuous phase modulation

A data-aided technique for carrier frequency offset estimation with continuous phase modulation(CPM) in burstmode transmission is presented. The proposed technique first exploits a special pilot sequence, or training sequence, to form a sinusoidal waveform. Then, an improved dichotomous search frequency offset estimator is introduced to determine the frequency offset using the sinusoid. Theoretical analysis and simulation results indicate that our estimator is noteworthy in the following aspects. First, the estimator can operate independently of timing recovery. Second, it has relatively low outlier, i.e., the minimum signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) required to guarantee estimation accuracy. Finally, the most important property is that our estimator is complexity-reduced compared to the existing dichotomous search methods: it eliminates the need for fast Fourier transform(FFT) and modulation removal, and exhibits faster convergence rate without accuracy degradation.