Optical Frequency Combs in Quadratically Nonlinear Resonators.

Optical frequency combs are one of the most remarkable inventions in recent decades. Originally conceived as the spectral counterpart of the train of short pulses emitted by mode-locked lasers, frequency combs have also been subsequently generated in continuously pumped microresonators, through third-order parametric processes. Quite recently, direct generation of optical frequency combs has been demonstrated in continuous-wave laser-pumped optical resonators with a second-order nonlinear medium inside. Here, we present a concise introduction to such quadratic combs and the physical mechanism that underlies their formation. We mainly review our recent experimental and theoretical work on formation and dynamics of quadratic frequency combs. We experimentally demonstrated comb generation in two configurations: a cavity for second harmonic generation, where combs are generated both around the pump frequency and its second harmonic and a degenerate optical parametric oscillator, where combs are generated around the pump frequency and its subharmonic. The experiments have been supported by a thorough theoretical analysis, aimed at modelling the dynamics of quadratic combs, both in frequency and time domains, providing useful insights into the physics of this new class of optical frequency comb synthesizers. Quadratic combs establish a new class of efficient frequency comb synthesizers, with unique features, which could enable straightforward access to new spectral regions and stimulate novel applications.

Comb-assisted cavity ring-down spectroscopy of a buffer-gas-cooled molecular beam.

We demonstrate continuous-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy of a partially hydrodynamic molecular beam emerging from a buffer-gas-cooling source. Specifically, the (ν1 + ν3) vibrational overtone band of acetylene (C2H2) around 1.5 µm is accessed using a narrow-linewidth diode laser stabilized against a GPS-disciplined rubidium clock via an optical frequency comb synthesizer. As an example, the absolute frequency of the R(1) component is measured with a fractional accuracy of ∼1 × 10(-9). Our approach represents the first step towards the extension of more sophisticated cavity-enhanced interrogation schemes, including saturated absorption cavity ring-down or two-photon excitation, to buffer-gas-cooled molecular beams.

Phase noise analysis of a 10 Watt Yb-doped fibre amplifier seeded by a 1-Hz-linewidth laser.

We report a thorough analysis of the spectral properties of an ytterbium-doped fibre amplifier, seeded by a Nd:YAG laser, whose linewidth has been narrowed down to 1 Hz by locking the laser to an ultrastable reference cavity. We measured the phase noise contribution from the amplifier, showing that it does not depend on the amplification gain, nor on the seed laser linewidth. Moreover, the amplifier-induced phase noise does not affect the final linewidth, as verified by heterodyne linewidth measurement within the 0.2 Hz resolution bandwidth of our acquisition set-up. Preservation of spectral purity below Hz-level is promising for more demanding applications, from nonlinear optics to frequency/time-standard transfer over fibre links.

High-speed multi-THz-range mode-hop-free tunable mid-IR laser spectrometer.

We report on a widely (2.25 THz or 75 cm(-1)) and rapidly (4.5 THz/s) mode-hop-free (MHF) tunable mid-IR laser source at ~3.3 µm, consisting of a 5%-MgO:LiNbO(3) singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (SRO) pumped by an automated broadly MHF tunable extended-cavity diode laser (ECDL). The broad and rapid MHF tuning capability of the ECDL is readily transferred to the SRO idler wave owing to the quasi-noncritical pump spectral acceptance bandwidth of the quasi-phase-matching. Fast and broadband high-resolution Doppler spectroscopy measurements of the ν(3) band of CH(4) are presented to illustrate the performance of the mid-IR optical parametric oscillator spectrometer.