Kerr-lens mode-locked lasers as transfer oscillators for optical frequency measurements.pdfVIP

a r X i v : p h y s i c s / 0 1 0 7 0 3 7 v 1 [ p h y s i c s .o p t i c s ] 1 7 J u l 2 0 0 1 Kerr-lens mode-locked lasers as transfer oscillators for optical frequency measurements Harald R. Telle, Burghard Lipphardt and Jo?rn Stenger Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany We introduce a novel concept for optical frequency measurement and division which employs a Kerr-lens mode-locked laser as a transfer oscillator whose noise properties do not enter the measurement process. We experimentally demonstrate, that this method opens up the route to phase-link signals with arbitrary frequencies in the optical or microwave range while their frequency stability is preserved. PACS numbers: 42.62.Eh, 06.20.Fn, 06.30.Ft 1. Introduction Continuous-wave mode-locked lasers emit a periodic train of short pulses. The spectrum of this emission cor- responds to a comb of distinct lines with well-defined spacing if the mode-coupling mechanism is sufficiently strong and fast. It has been shown that the non-resonant, electronic Kerr-lens mode-locking (KLM) process can satisfy this requirement [1], making such lasers highly suited for optical frequency measurements [2], [3], [4]. The frequency of any line of the spectral comb emit- ted by such a KLM laser is given by an integer order number m, the pulse repetition frequency frep and a so called carrier-envelope offset-frequency νceo, which ac- counts for the offset of the entire comb with respect to the frequency zero: νm = νceo +mfrep . (1) When all three quantities are known, any unknown external optical frequency νx within the span of the comb can be absolutely measured by detection of its beat-note frequency ?x with a suitable comb line. Absolute frequency measurement means that frep is measured and expressed in terms of SI-Hertz. This primary unit is realized by a Cs-clock controlled radio frequency (rf) source, which is a H-maser generating a standard frequency of 100 MHz in ou