Optical frequency combs based on mode-locked lasers have revolutionized many areas of science and technology, such as precision metrology, optical frequency synthesis or telecommunications. In recent years, a particular kind of frequency comb has been observed in edge-emitting semiconductor lasers where the phase difference between longitudinal laser modes is fixed but not zero. This results in a linearly chirped output in the time domain with nearly constant intensity. Here, by using coherent beatnote spectroscopy, we show that such a comb regime can also exist in vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs), as evidenced for a specific part of the laser spectrum. Our findings may not only lead to a better understanding of the physics of frequency-modulated combs but also enable comb applications with high optical power per comb line and flexible emission wavelengths.
A single transverse mode high pulse-energy VECSEL was developed. The GaSb based VECSEL emits at a wavelength of 2.04 microns with a peak power exceeding 500W while maintaining good beam quality. The cavity employs a Pockels cell combined with a low-loss thin film polarizer to selectively dump the intracavity energy into a 10ns pulse. The laser has promise for incoherent LiDAR, materials processing, gas sensing, and nonlinear optics.
An ultra-low intensity and beatnote phase noise dual-frequency vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser is built at telecom wavelength. The pump laser is realized by polarization combining two single-mode fibered laser diodes in a single-mode fiber, leading to a 100 % in-phase correlation of the pump noises for the two modes. The relative intensity noise is lower than -140 dB/Hz, and the beatnote phase noise is suppressed by 30 dB, getting close to the spontaneous emission limit. The role of the imperfect cancellation of the thermal effect resulting from unbalanced pumping of the two mo…
Experiments in atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics rely on lasers at many different wavelengths and with varying requirements on spectral linewidth, power, and intensity stability. Vertical external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs), when combined with nonlinear frequency conversion, can potentially replace many of the laser systems currently in use. Here we present and characterize VECSEL systems that can perform all laser-based tasks for quantum information processing experiments with trapped magnesium ions. For photoionization of neutral magnesium, 570.6$\,$nm light is gener…
We present a 1.75-GHz self-referenceable frequency comb from a vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL) passively modelocked with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The VECSEL delivers 231-fs pulses with an average power of 100 mW and is optimized for stable and reliable operation. The optical spectrum was centered around 1038 nm and nearly transform-limited with a full width half maximum (FWHM) bandwidth of 5.5 nm. The pulses were first amplified to an average power of 5.5 W using a backward-pumped Yb-doped double-clad large mode area (LMA) fiber and then compr…
Frequency combs are light sources with coherent evenly-spaced lines. It has been observed that in certain laser systems, combs can form whose output is frequency-modulated (FM) in time. In this state, they produce an output whose frequency sweeps linearly and periodically. These results have been replicated numerically, but a thorough understanding of their core physics remains elusive. Surprisingly, we have found that these lasers are described by a nonlinear Schrodinger equation whose potential is proportional to the phase of the electric field. This equation can be solved exactly and produc…
Frequency modulated (FM) frequency combs constitute an exciting alternative to generate equidistant spectra. The full set of Maxwell-Bloch equations is reduced to a single master equation for FM combs with fast dynamics to provide insight into the governing mechanisms behind phase-locking. It reveals that the recently observed linear frequency chirp is caused by the combined effects of spatial hole burning, group velocity dispersion and Kerr due to asymmetric gain. The comparison to observation in various semiconductor lasers suggests that the linear chirp is general to self-starting FM combs.
Arising from modulation instability, Turing rolls in optical Kerr microresonators have been used in the generation of optical frequency combs and the synthesis of microwave and terahertz frequencies. In this work, by applying electro-optic modulation on terahertz-frequency Turing rolls, we implement electro-optic frequency division with a microcomb to synthesize variable low-noise microwave signals. We also actively stabilize the terahertz oscillations to a microwave reference via intracavity power modulation, obtaining fractional frequency instabilities that are better than those of the free-…
Globally, the long-haul transmission of ultra-high bandwidth data is enabled through coherent communications. Driven by the rapid pace of growth in interconnectivity over the last decade, long-haul data transmission has reached capacities on the order of tens to hundreds of terabits per second, over fiber reaches which may span thousands of kilometers. Data center communications however operate in a different regime, featuring shorter reaches and characterized as being more cost and power sensitive. While integrated microresonator frequency combs are poised to revolutionize light sources used …
We demonstrate that flat-topped dissipative solitonic pulses, platicons, and corresponding frequency combs can be excited in optical microresonators with normal group velocity dispersion using either amplitude modulation of the pump or bichromatic pump. Soft excitation may occur in particular frequency range if modulation depth is large enough and modulation frequency is close to the free spectral range of the microresonator.
In this article, we derive analytically the complex optical spectrum of a pulsed laser source obtained when a frequency comb generated by phase modulation is input into a synchronized intensity modulator. We then show how this knowledge of the spectrum may help to achieve unprecedented accuracy during the experimental spectrum correction step usually carried out with an optical spectrum processor. In numerical examples, for a given average power we present up to a 75 % increase in peak power and an enhancement of the extinction ratio by at least three orders of magnitude. This method also enab…
Frequency-modulated (FM) combs with a linearly-chirped frequency and nearly constant intensity occur naturally in certain laser systems; they can be most succinctly described by a nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a phase potential. In this work, we perform a comprehensive analytical study of FM combs in order to calculate their salient properties. We develop a general procedure that allows mean-field theories to be constructed for arbitrary sets of master equations, and as an example consider the case of reflective defects. We derive an expression for the FM chirp of arbitrary Fabry-Perot c…
We develop a general theoretical framework to dynamically engineer quantum correlations in the frequency-comb emission from an array of superconducting qubits in a waveguide, rigorously accounting for the temporal modulation of the qubit resonance frequencies. We demonstrate, that when the resonance frequencies of the two qubits are periodically modulated with a $π$ phase shift, it is possible to realize simultaneous bunching and antibunching in cross-correlations of the scattered photons from different sidebands. Our approach, based on the dynamical conversion between the quantum excitations …
We introduce a new cascaded four-wave mixing technique which scales up the bandwidth of frequency combs generated by phase modulation of a continuous wave laser while simultaneously enhancing the spectral flatness. As a result we demonstrate a 10 GHz frequency comb with over 100 lines in a 10-dB bandwidth in which a record 75 lines are within a flatness of 1-dB. The cascaded four-wave mixing process increases the bandwidth of the initial comb generated by modulation of a CW laser by a factor of five. The broadband comb has approximately quadratic spectral phase, which is compensated upon propa…
We cast a theoretical model based on Effective Semiconductor Maxwell-Bloch Equations and study the dynamics of a multi-mode mid-Infrared Quantum Cascade Laser in Fabry Perot with the aim to investigate the spontaneous generation of optical frequency combs. This model encompasses the key features of a semiconductor active medium such as asymmetric,frequency-dependent gain and refractive index as well as the phase-amplitude coupling of the field dynamics provided by the linewidth enhancement factor. Our numerical simulations are in excellent agreement with recent experimental results, showing br…
The formation of optical frequency combs (OFCs) by the parametric modulation of optical microresonators is commonly described by lumped-parameter models. However, these models do not consider the actual spatial distribution of the parametric modulation (SDPM). Here, we show that the effect of the SDPM becomes of special importance for an elongated SNAP bottle microresonator (SBM) having shallow nanometre-scale effective radius variation along its axial length. The advantage of SBMs compared to microresonators with different shapes (e.g., spherical and toroidal) is that SBMs, remaining miniatur…
Photonic analog to digital conversion offers promise to overcome the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sample rate trade-off in conventional analog to digital converters (ADCs), critical for modern digital communications and signal analysis. We propose using phase-stable dual frequency combs with a fixed frequency spacing offset to downconvert spectral slices of a broadband signal and enable high resolution parallel digitization. To prove the concept of our proposed method, we demonstrate the detection of a 10-GHz subcarrier modulated (SCM) signal using 500-MHz bandwidth ADCs by optically conver…
Optical frequency combs based on mode-locked lasers have proven to be invaluable tools for a wide range of applications in precision spectroscopy and metrology. A novel principle of optical frequency comb generation in whispering-gallery mode microresonators ("microcombs") has been developed recently, which represents a promising route towards chip-level integration and out-of-the-lab use of these devices. Presently, two families of microcombs have been demonstrated: combs with electronically detectable mode spacing that can be directly stabilized, and broadband combs with up to octave-spannin…
The resonant filtering method transforming frequency modulated radiation field into a train of short pulses is proposed to apply in optical domain. Effective frequency modulation can be achieved by electro-optic modulator or by resonant frequency modulation of the filter with a narrow absorption line. Due to frequency modulation narrow-spectrum CW radiation field is seen by the resonant filter as a comb of equidistant spectral components separated by the modulation frequency. Tuning narrow-bandwidth filter in resonance with $n$-th spectral component of the comb transforms the radiation field i…
A new method for measuring the linewidth enhancement factor of a laser is proposed. It is based on frequency-modulated optical injection, combined with dual-frequency laser operation. The linewidth enhancement factor α is deduced from the experimental data using a theoretical analysis based on a standard rate equation model. As the intracavity power is kept constant, the method allows to free the process from the thermal effects that are usually present in AM/FM techniques. Measurement of α=0.28$\pm$0.04 in a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser demonstrates that the method is well-suited for characteriz…
Coupled clocks are a classic example of a synchronization system leading to periodic collective oscillations. This phenomenon already attracted the attention of Christian Huygens back in 1665,who described it as a kind of "sympathy" among oscillators. In this work we describe the formation of two types of laser frequency combs as a system of oscillators coupled through the beating of the lasing modes. We experimentally show two completely different types of synchronizations in a quantum dot laser { in-phase and splay states. Both states can be generated in the same device, just by varying the …
As the formation of spatial optical solitons in photorefractive media is governed by modification of the refractive index every single solitons in complex configurations of solitons can act as a single waveguide for other light beams. In this article we demonstrate guiding of amplitude modulated beams in complex configurations of photorefractive solitons carrying information and we analyze the received signal in the kHz frequency range. The possibility of data transmission combined with waveguide couplers opens the route to all-optical networks.
The spectrum of a CW field whose phase experiences a periodic sawtooth modulation is analyzed. Two types of the sawtooth phase modulation are considered. One is created by combining many harmonics of the fundamental frequency. The second is produced by electro-optic modulator fed by the relaxation oscillator, which generates a voltage slowly rising during charging the energy storage capacitor and dropping fast due to discharge by a short circuit. It is proposed to filter out the main spectral component of the sawtooth phase modulated field. This filtering produces short pulses from CW phase mo…
Modulated optical cavities have been proposed and demonstrated for applications in communications, laser frequency stabilization, microwave-to-optical conversion and frequency comb generation. However, most studies are restricted to the adiabatic regime, where either the maximum excursion of the modulation or the modulation frequency itself is below the linewidth of the cavity. Here, using a fiber ring resonator with an embedded electro-optic phase modulator, we investigate the nonadiabatic regime. By strongly driving the modulator at frequencies that are significantly smaller than the free-sp…
Magneto-acoustic tomography combines near-field radio-frequency (RF) and ultrasound with the aim of creating a safe, high resolution, high contrast hybrid imaging technique. We present continuous-wave magneto-acoustic imaging techniques, which improve SNR and/or reduce the required peak-to-average excitation power ratio, to make further integration and larger fields of view feasible. This method relies on the coherency between RF excitation and the resulting ultrasound generated through Lorentz force interactions, which was confirmed by our previous work. We provide detailed methodology, clari…
Advances in high-resolution laser spectroscopy have enabled many scientific breakthroughs in physics, chemistry, biology and astronomy. Optical frequency combs have pushed measurement limits with ultrahigh-frequency accuracy and fast-measurement speed while tunable diode laser spectroscopy is used in scenarios that require high power and continuous spectral coverage. Despite these advantages of tunable diode laser spectroscopy, it is challenging to precisely determine the instantaneous frequency of the laser because of fluctuations in the scan speed. Here we demonstrate a simple spectroscopy s…
