Quantum Limits to Timing Jitter in Femtosecond Lasers

“该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助的。”这项提议的目的是探索飞秒激光计时抖动的基本极限，并开发一种新的光学时钟和微波产生技术，使用紧凑型二极管泵浦的铬：高岭石激光器产生10-100飞秒的超低计时抖动接近量子极限的脉冲。提出的研究建立在我们在二极管泵浦的铬：高岭石激光器和阿秒定时抖动检测和控制方面的最新成果的基础上。所提出的程序包括以下目标：1.对工作在孤子脉冲整形区域的锁模激光器的时间抖动进行建模。2.基于平衡非线性光学互相关的阿秒定时抖动特性研究。3.低噪声微波信号的提取及其表征。4.研制了重复频率为100 MHz~20 GHz的铬：高硅铝石激光器。智力价值：提出的研究将对飞秒激光的基本理解做出重要贡献，并开发实现超高稳定性微波产生的新方法。这些研究代表着朝着开发集成光学和电子技术的下一代超高速信号处理技术迈出的关键一步。更广泛的影响：低成本、高功率、紧凑和便携的飞秒激光对许多科学和技术应用至关重要。利用锁模激光器产生的光脉冲序列可以实现超低的定时抖动，这使得它们在大规模加速器设备的飞秒精确定时分配和同步、低相位噪声微波产生、任意波形产生、高速、高分辨率光采样和模数转换等应用中非常有吸引力。

"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."The objective of this proposal is to explore the fundamental limits for timing jitter in femtosecond (fs) lasers and develop a new technology for optical clock and microwave generation using compact diode-pumped Cr:Colquiriite lasers producing 10-100 fs pulses with ultralow timing jitter approaching the quantum limit. The proposed research builds upon our recent achievements in diode-pumped Cr:Colquiriite lasers and attosecond timing jitter detection and control. The proposed program consists of the following aims: 1. Modelling timing jitter in mode-locked lasers operating in the soliton pulse shaping regime. 2. Attosecond timing jitter characterization using balanced nonlinear optical cross correlation. 3. Extraction of low noise microwave signals and its characterization. 4. Development of Cr:Colquiriite lasers with repetition rates ranging from 100 MHz to 20 GHz. Intellectual Merit: The proposed research will make important contributions to the fundamental understanding of fs lasers and develop new methods to achieve ultrahigh stability microwave generation. These studies represent a critical step toward developing the next generation of ultrahigh speed signal processing techniques integrating optics and electronics. Broader Impact: Low-cost, high-power, compact and portable fs lasers are critical for many scientific and technological applications. The ultralow timing jitter which can be achieve using optical pulse trains from modelocked lasers makes them very attractive for applications such as fs precision timing distribution and synchronization of large scale accelerator facilities, low phase noise microwave generation, arbitrary waveform generation, high-speed, high-resolution optical sampling and analog-to-digital conversion.