Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2017
Volume 62, Number 4
Monday–Friday, March 13–17, 2017; New Orleans, Louisiana
Session A29: Optical Frequency Combs - Generation, Metrology & ApplicationsInvited
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Sponsoring Units: DLS Room: 292 |
Monday, March 13, 2017 8:00AM - 8:36AM |
A29.00001: Microresonator based Frequency Combs Invited Speaker: Kerry Vahala |
Monday, March 13, 2017 8:36AM - 9:12AM |
A29.00002: Coherent Optical Signal Processing using Semiconductor Based Frequency Combs Invited Speaker: Peter Delfyett The development of stabilized optical frequency combs has led to a revolution in many areas of optical spectroscopy, metrology, communications and signal processing. The size, weight, cost and power consumption of frequency comb sources plays an important role in determining whether these sources are suitable for specific applications. In that light, many of these application areas could benefit from the existence of chip scale frequency comb sources for use in fully integrated ``systems on a chip''. This talk will cover recent developments in semiconductor based comb sources and their use in ultrafast optical signal processing applications. Specifically, we will focus on results pertaining to comb stabilization, synchronization and coherence between independent combs, and using the combs for arbitrary waveform generation and measurement, and pattern recognition. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 13, 2017 9:12AM - 9:48AM |
A29.00003: Ultra-low noise combs in the palm of your hand Invited Speaker: Thomas R. Schibli Mode-locked lasers are attractive tools for precision measurements and for photonic microwave generation. The technology around these lasers has rapidly evolved, and with the invention of optical frequency combs, fs-technology has become a ubiquitous tool science and engineering. At first, most of these combs were generated by bulky and delicate Kerr-Lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire systems, but have now been mostly replaced by the much more robust and compact fiber lasers. However, the move from table-top solid-state lasers to the fully self-contained fiber systems came with a price: the optical phase noise performance degraded due to design constraints. While this is of no concern for most spectroscopic applications, it poses a challenge for applications that require excellent short-term phase noise performance, such as, for example, required for photonic microwave generation. While much of this has been improved by ingenious laser designs, it remains a challenge to obtain ultra-low phase-noise combs from high-repetition-rate fiber lasers. Here we present a new approach consisting of a monolithic cavity design, in which the laser light is fully confined inside an optical material. Thanks to this monolithic design, these solid-state lasers are inherently robust against environmental perturbations, such as acoustics, vibrations, air pressure and humidity. Opposed to the omnipresent mode-locked fiber lasers, these monolithic lasers exhibit very low round-trip loss, dispersion and nonlinearities. As a result, they produce highly stable pulse trains, with free-running relative line-widths of the order of a few Hz in the optical domain, despite their moderately high fundamental repetition rates of 1~GHz. The compact design further simplifies integration into complex systems, and eliminates the need for an optics bench or a vibration isolated platform. These lasers produce less than 0.2 W of heat, and are fully turn-key. [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 13, 2017 9:48AM - 10:24AM |
A29.00004: A Few Atoms Too Many: Unravelling Molecular Complexities with Frequency Comb Spectroscopy Invited Speaker: Bryce Bjork Cavity-enhanced frequency comb spectroscopy$^{\mathrm{1}}$ has blossomed into a widely versatile tool$^{\mathrm{2}}$, allowing for trace gas sensing, transient absorption spectroscopy, and the study of buffer gas cooled molecules$^{\mathrm{3}}$. This technique offers the unique and simultaneous blend of broad spectral bandwidth, high sensitivity, and high spectral resolution. Recently, we have applied this technique to the important OH$+$CO$\to $H$+$CO$_{\mathrm{2}}$ reaction, which has long been studied due to its importance in atmospheric and combustion environments$^{\mathrm{4}}$. Using this technique in the mid-IR, we simultaneously monitor the real-time concentrations of the initial reactants, intermediate transient species, and final products, including for example \textit{trans}-DOCO, \textit{cis}-DOCO, OD, and CO$_{\mathrm{2}}$ from the deuterated reaction OD$+$CO$\to $D$+$CO$_{\mathrm{2}}$. By determining the time dependencies of these transient molecules, we directly quantify fundamental rate constants and branching yields for the first time. This talk will cover our application of the frequency comb to chemical kinetics as well as the characterization of large molecules in a cold Helium buffer gas environment. Finally, I will discuss the extension of the frequency comb beyond 6 microns.\\ \\In collaboration with: Jun Ye, JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA\\ \\$^{1}$ M. J. Thorpe et al., Broadband cavity ringdown spectroscopy for sensitive and rapid molecular detection. Science 311, 1595-1599 (2006).\newline $^{2}$ F. Adler et al., Cavity-enhanced direct frequency comb spectroscopy: technology and applications. Annu. Rev. Anal. Chem. 3, 175-205 (2010).\newline $^{3}$ B. Spaun et al., Continuous probing of cold complex molecules with infrared frequency comb spectroscopy. Nature 533, 517-520 (2016).\newline $^{4}$ B. J. Bjork et al., Direct Frequency Comb Measurement of OD + CO \rightarrow DOCO Kinetics. Science 354, 444-448 (2016). [Preview Abstract] |
Monday, March 13, 2017 10:24AM - 11:00AM |
A29.00005: Optical Frequency Division for Low Noise RF to W Band Signal Generation Invited Speaker: Franklyn Quinlan Modern optical frequency references have extraordinary spectral purity, with lasers stabilized to passive optical reference cavities reaching fractional frequency instabilities below 10$^{\mathrm{-16}}$ at 1 second, and optical atomic clocks approaching 10$^{\mathrm{-18}}$ at 10$^{\mathrm{4}}$ seconds. Both the short- and long-term stability providing by ultrastable optical references can find new utility after high fidelity conversion to the electrical domain, including precision microwave spectroscopy, navigation and radar systems, and an optical clock-based redefinition of the SI second. Frequency division from an optical reference at 100s of THz to RF and microwave frequencies is performed by phase locking an optical frequency comb to the optical reference, followed by optical-to-electrical conversion with a high-speed photodetector. This process generates RF and microwave carriers at the harmonics of the repetition rate of the optical frequency comb, all of which ideally maintain the fractional stability of the optical reference. This talk will cover the performance of current and next-generation optical references, as well as the current and required performance of optical frequency combs and optical-to-electrical conversion needed to support the exquisite performance available in the optical domain. To date, 1 second instability \textless 10$^{\mathrm{-15}}$ at 10 GHz has been demonstrated, limited by the optical reference. Optical-to-electrical conversion has been shown to support state-of-the-art optical references, with added noise at a level of 10$^{\mathrm{-17}}$ at 1 second, and \textless 10$^{\mathrm{-19}}$ at 10$^{\mathrm{3}}$ seconds. Techniques to extend the frequency range into the millimeter-wave domain while maintaining 10$^{\mathrm{-15}}$ fractional instability, as well as arbitrary frequency generation with sub-millihertz precision tuning, will also be discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
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