Monolithic, Ultralow Jitter, High Frequency Microwave Synthesizer

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The development of stabilized femtosecond sources for applications in ultralow timing-jitter pulse train generation and ultralow phase-noise microwave generation would constitute a major advance in high-speed, high-resolution data processing, microwave generation, and metrology. Stabilized mode-locked lasers can provide optical pulse streams with ultralow timing-jitter and can also be used to generate ultralow phase noise microwave signals. Hence, it is desirable to develop microwave sources based on modelocked lasers that have dramatically improved performance over electronics. The objective of this proposal, "Monolithic, Ultralow Jitter, High Frequency Microwave Synthesizer," is to explore the fundamental limits for timing jitter in compact femtosecond lasers in all-polarization-maintaining-fiber architecture and develop a new technology for optical clock and microwave generation featuring ultralow timing jitter and long-term stability. This proposed program is a collaboration between Prof. Franz Kaertner at DESY and Prof. Zhigang Zhang from Peking University, China. The proposed research builds upon our recent achievements in all-polarization-maintaining-fiber lasers, attosecond timing jitter detection and control, and low-noise microwave extraction. The proposed research will make important contributions to the fundamental understanding of femtosecond lasers and develop new methods to achieve ultrahigh stability microwave generation. These studies integrate theory and experiment and represent a critical step toward developing the next generation of ultrahigh speed signal processing techniques that integrates optics and electronics.