Probing molecules in gas cells of subwavelength thickness with high frequency resolution.

Miniaturizing and integrating atomic vapor cells is widely investigated for the purposes of fundamental measurements and technological applications such as quantum sensing. Extending such platforms to the realm of molecular physics is a fascinating prospect that paves the way for compact frequency metrology as well as for exploring light-matter interactions with complex quantum objects. Here, we perform molecular rovibrational spectroscopy in a thin-cell of micrometric thickness, comparable to excitation wavelengths. We operate the cell in two distinct regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, probing ν1 + ν3 resonances of acetylene at 1.530 µm, within the telecommunications wavelength range, as well as the ν3 and ν2 resonances of SF6 and NH3 respectively, in the mid-infrared fingerprint region around 10.55 µm. Thin-cell confinement allows linear sub-Doppler transmission spectroscopy due to the coherent Dicke narrowing effect, here demonstrated for molecular rovibrations. Our experiment can find applications extending to the fields of compact molecular frequency references, atmospheric physics or fundamental precision measurements.

Limitations of frequency stability transfer in the near infrared using a fiber-based ring cavity: erratum.

We have detected a calibration error in the experiments presented in Opt. Lett.47, 5465 (2022)10.1364/OL.472887.

Limitations of frequency stability transfer in the near infrared using a fiber-based ring cavity.

We describe a fiber ring cavity for transferring frequency stability from a metrological optical reference at 1542 nm to tunable lasers covering 100 nm around 1.55 µm and show a stability transfer to the 10-15 level in relative value. The optical length of the ring is controlled by two actuators: a cylindrical piezoelectric tube (PZT) actuator on which a portion of the fiber is coiled and glued for fast corrections (vibrations) acting on the length of the fiber, and a Peltier module for slow corrections acting on its temperature. We characterize the stability transfer and analyze the limitations imposed by two critical effects in the setup: Brillouin backscattering and the polarization modulation generated by the electro-optic modulators (EOMs) used in the error signal detection scheme. We show that it is possible to reduce the impact of these limitations to a level below the detection threshold imposed by the servo noise. We also show that in the long term, the limitation to the stability transfer is a thermal sensitivity of -550 Hz/K/nm which could be reduced by active control of the ambient temperature.

Compact fiber-ring resonator for blue external cavity diode laser stabilization.

We demonstrate a compact and low-cost all-fiber-based locking setup for frequency-noise suppression of a 420 nm external-cavity diode laser. Frequency noise reduction in the 100 Hz to 800 kHz range is demonstrated up to 40 dB associated with a linewidth narrowing from 850 kHz to 20 kHz for 10 ms integration time. This simple locking scheme might be implemented for a large range of wavelengths and can be integrated on a small footprint for embedded applications requiring narrow linewidth blue laser diodes.

All-fiber ring-cavity for frequency stability transfer at 1.55 µm.

A compact setup for transferring the stability of a metrological frequency reference at 1.55 µm is described. One mode of a fiber-ring cavity is frequency-locked onto the reference. The stability transfer is achieved by locking an extended-cavity diode laser, tunable over 100 nm onto one cavity mode. Once locked, this tunable laser exhibits a relative frequency stability close to 10-12 for integration times from 1 to 3000 s (minimum of 6·10-13 at 10 s). We show that this stability limitation is due to the polarization fluctuations' sensitivity of the fiber optic components. Using a second cavity, the frequency stability transfer over 58 nm is demonstrated at a level of 4·10-12. Associated with a local frequency reference and with an efficient acoustic and thermal insulation, this compact setup is intended for embedded metrological applications.

Low-noise and high-gain Brillouin optical amplifier for narrowband active optical filtering based on a pump-to-signal optoelectronic tracking.

We implement and characterize an optical narrowband amplifier based on stimulated Brillouin scattering with pump-to-signal relative frequency fluctuations overcome thanks to an active pump tracking. We achieve a precise characterization of this amplifier in terms of gain and noise degradation (noise figure). The performances of this stable selective amplification are compared to those of a conventional erbium-doped fiber amplifier in order to highlight the interest of the Brillouin amplification solution for active narrow optical filtering with a bandpass of 10 MHz. Thanks to the simple optoelectronic pump-to-signal tracking, the Brillouin active filter appears as a stable and reliable solution for narrowband optical processing in the coherent optical communication context and optical sensor applications.