Berlin 2014 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 49: Precision measurements and metrology II (with Q)

A 49.1: Group Report

Thursday, March 20, 2014, 16:30–17:00, DO24 1.101

Phase-predictable tuning of single-frequency optical synthesizers — •Felix Rohde¹, Erik Benkler¹, Thomas Puppe², Reinhard Unterreitmayer², Armin Zach², Christoph Raab², and Harald R. Telle¹ — ¹Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, Braunschweig D-38116 — ²TOPTICA Photonics AG, Lochhamer Schlag 19, D-82155 Graefelfing

Single-frequency optical synthesizers (SFOS) provide an optical field with arbitrarily adjustable frequency and phase which is phase-coherently linked to a reference signal. Ideally, they combine the spectral resolution of narrow linewidth frequency stabilized lasers with the broad spectral coverage of frequency combs in a tunable fashion. In current state-of-the-art SFOSs, a dedicated comb line order switching was used to enable tunability over carrier frequency intervals wider than the repetition frequency of the employed mode-locked laser. This imposes technical overhead, leads to forbidden frequency gaps and limits the tuning agility of the SFOS. Here, we present the first characterization of a novel type of SFOS which relies on serrodyne-shifting the carrier frequency of the employed frequency comb. We investigate the tuning behavior of two identical SFOSs, sharing a common reference, by comparing the phases of their output signals. We achieve phase-stable and cycle slip free frequency tuning over 500 comb lines (28.1 GHz) with a maximum differential phase error of 62 mrad. The tuning range in this approach can be extended to the full bandwidth of the frequency comb.