Phase-locking of a 2.7-THz quantum cascade laser to a mode-locked erbium-doped fibre laser
Phase-locking of a 2.7-THz quantum cascade laser to a mode-locked erbium-doped fibre laser
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DOI：
10.1038/nphoton.2010.125
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发表时间：
2010-09-01
期刊：
影响因子：
35
通讯作者：
Ritchie, David
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Barbieri, Stefano;Gellie, Pierre;Ritchie, David
锁模飞秒激光器通过允许在光频域和射频范围之间实现超稳定的相位相干链接，彻底改变了光学计量领域（1-4）。在这项工作中，我们使用ZnTe（参考文献5）中的电光效应来证明2.7 THz量子级联激光器（6）的频率和相位可以主动稳定到商业锁模掺铒光纤激光器（7）的90 MHz重复率（f（rep））的n次谐波。稳定的量子级联激光器频率和f（rep）的谐波之间的拍频在1Hz的带宽内产生80 dB的信噪比。该技术本质上是宽带的，也就是说，它适用于任何量子级联激光源，只要其频率福尔斯落在飞秒激光的光谱带宽内（类似于5 THz）（8，9）。此外，它是使用光和紧凑光纤技术而不是超导测辐射热计混频器来控制不同量子级联激光器的相位的理想工具（10，11）。
Mode-locked femtosecond lasers have revolutionized the field of optical metrology by allowing the realization of ultra-stable phase-coherent links between the optical-frequency domain and the radiofrequency range(1-4). In this work we have used the electro-optic effect in ZnTe (ref. 5) to demonstrate that the frequency and the phase of a 2.7 THz quantum cascade laser(6) can be actively stabilized to the nth harmonic of the 90 MHz repetition rate (f(rep)) of a commercial, mode-locked erbium-doped fibre laser(7). The beating between the stabilized quantum cascade laser frequency and the harmonic of f(rep) yield a signal-to-noise ratio of 80 dB in a bandwidth of 1 Hz. The technique is inherently broadband, that is, it is applicable to any quantum cascade laser source provided that its frequency falls within the spectral bandwidth of the femtosecond laser (similar to 5 THz)(8,9). Furthermore, it is an ideal tool with which to control the phase of different quantum cascade lasers using light and compact fibre technology rather than superconducting bolometer mixers(10,11).