We present flattened supercontinuum generation from a micro-resonator-based frequency comb for the calibration of astronomical spectrographs. Micro-resonator-based frequency combs, also known as microcombs, exhibit inherently high mode spacing owing to their compact cavity size. Applying a tailored photonic crystal fiber (PCF) taper, the spectrum of a 12 GHz microcomb is broadened to more than one octave from 1.0 μm to 2.2 μm. The resulting supercontinuum is smoothed using a spatial light modulator based spectral flattener, producing a flat-top broadband supercontinuum that serves as a powerful source for precision astronomical spectroscopy.
Quantum technologies, spanning from sensing and metrology to simulations and computing, rely upon precise and low noise laser systems. Currently, we are witnessing a paradigm shift, where laboratory-based experiments are engineered such to develop reliable operating devices. The goal of providing continuous operation is key to enable their deployment for, e.g., PNT applications or cloud-based quantum computing services. Ultra-low noise laser systems are becoming integral part of these quantum devices due to their pivotal role in the effective functioning of the physics package. In fact, the performance are fundamentally linked to the noise properties of the driving laser fields, imposing the need of a careful choice of the appropriate sources, their spectral properties, and their stabilization. Here we present some of our recent ultra-stable laser system engineered for enabling several applications, we will describe ultra-stable comb and laser systems for quantum computing using neutral Yb, Sr, Rb, or Cs atoms, electric field sensing with Rydberg Rb atoms, and portable compact comb systems to enable uninterrupted operation of optical clocks in the field. A detailed noise analysis of the systems will be presented.
We demonstrate a compact mid-IR system using difference frequency generation based on a femtosecond Ytterbium fiber laser system operating at a repetition rate of 100 MHz. By utilizing the fundamental 1 µm emission of the Yb-laser system and the widely wavelength-tuneable soliton emission of a PCF, high output power levels of more than 100 mW are realized over a large tuning range from 3 µm to 4.9 µm. This system demonstrates a powerful and widely tuneable femtosecond mid-IR source in a compact and robust design for applications such as infrared microscopy and spectroscopy.
Quantum technologies are nowadays emerging as enabling tools for practical applications, such as quantum sensing, quantum computing and quantum metrology. Lasers play a central role in many of these technological platforms, e.g. for atomic clocks, ion-based or neutral atom-based quantum computers or atom interferometers. Here we present a complete laser system to cool, trap and control strontium atoms in an optical lattice or in tweezer arrays. A sub-Hz linewidth master laser, locked to a high-finesse optical cavity provides the frequency reference for an ultra-low noise comb. The rack-mounted laser system consists of all cooling, repumping, and clock lasers stabilized to the optical frequency comb. Each of the involved laser frequencies can therefore be tuned and mapped in the frequency domain with a high degree of stability. The system is controlled via a software interface, allowing to operate the cold-atom-based physics package autonomously. The system is tailored for the operation of 88Sr or 87Sr optical lattice clocks, or for quantum computing applications, but other sub-Hz lasers could be obtained by phase locking additional clock laser frequencies to the ultra-stable comb, enabling convenient and accurate optical frequency ratio measurements. The laser system architecture and the relevant characterization measurements will be presented, proposing some user-cases such as quantum computing and atom interferometry on strontium atoms. This represents a technological leap for quantum optics, allowing to explore further applications of quantum sensors outside a traditional lab.
We demonstrate a compact mid-IR system using difference frequency generation based on a femtosecond Ytterbium fiber laser system with a repetition rate of 100 MHz. Based on the fundamental 1040 nm beam, we use frequency conversion in a nonlinear fiber to generate a tuneable signal beam for mid-IR generation based on difference frequency generation. We investigate different nonlinear fibers for signal generation between 1100 nm and 1600 nm for optimum mid-IR generation between 3 µm and 10 µm, for which power levels of more than 200 mW have been observed at an emission wavelength of 4 µm.
Frequency combs are an enabling technology for metrology and spectroscopic applications in fundamental and life sciences. While frequency combs in the 1 μm regime, produced from Yb-based systems have already exceeded the 100 W – level, high power coverage of the interesting mid-infrared wavelength range remains yet to be demonstrated. Tm- and Ho-doped laser systems have recently shown operation at high average power levels in the 2 μm wavelength regime. However, frequency combs in this wavelength range have not exceeded the 5 W-average power level. In this work, we present a high power frequency comb, delivered by a Tm-doped chirped-pulse amplifier with subsequent nonlinear pulse compression. With an integrated phase noise of <320 mrad, low relative intensity noise of <0.5% and an average power of 60 W at 100 MHz repetition rate (and <30 fs FWHM pulse duration), this system demonstrates high stability and broad spectral coverage at an unrivalled average power level in this wavelength regime. Therefore, this laser will enable metrology and spectroscopy with unprecedented sensitivity and acquisition time. It is our ongoing effort to extend the spectral coverage of this system through the utilization of parametric frequency conversion into the mid-IR, thus ultimately enabling high power fingerprint spectroscopy in the entire molecular fingerprint region (2 – 20 μm).
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