Femtosecond-laser-based synthesis of ultrastable microwave signals from optical frequency references

Abstract

We use femtosecond laser frequency combs to convert optical frequency references to the microwave domain, where we demonstrate the synthesis of $10\text{-}\mathrm{GHz}$ signals having a fractional frequency instability of $⩽\le 3.5\times {10}^{-15}$ at a $1\text{-}\mathrm{s}$ averaging time, limited by the optical reference. The residual instability and phase noise of the femtosecond-laser-based frequency synthesizers are $6.5\times {10}^{-16}$ at $1\mathrm{s}$ and $-98\mathrm{dBc}∕\mathrm{Hz}$ at a $1\text{-}\mathrm{Hz}$ offset from the $10\text{-}\mathrm{GHz}$ carrier, respectively. The timing jitter of the microwave signals is $3.3\mathrm{fs}$.

© 2005 Optical Society of America

Microwave synthesis from a continuous-wave terahertz oscillator using a photocarrier terahertz frequency comb

Shigeo Nagano, Hiroyuki Ito, Motohiro Kumagai, Masatoshi Kajita, and Yuko Hanado
Opt. Lett. 38(12) 2137-2139 (2013)

Ultra-low-noise microwave extraction from fiber-based optical frequency comb

J. Millo, R. Boudot, M. Lours, P. Y. Bourgeois, A. N. Luiten, Y. Le Coq, Y. Kersalé, and G. Santarelli
Opt. Lett. 34(23) 3707-3709 (2009)

Optical frequency synthesis from a cryogenic microwave sapphire oscillator

J. J. McFerran, S. T. Dawkins, P. L. Stanwix, M. E. Tobar, and A. N. Luiten
Opt. Express 14(10) 4316-4327 (2006)

Microwave generation with low residual phase noise from a femtosecond fiber laser with an intracavity electro-optic modulator

William C. Swann, Esther Baumann, Fabrizio R. Giorgetta, and Nathan R. Newbury
Opt. Express 19(24) 24387-24395 (2011)

Mode-locked laser pulse trains with subfemtosecond timing jitter synchronized to an optical reference oscillator

A. Bartels, S. A. Diddams, T. M. Ramond, and L. Hollberg
Opt. Lett. 28(8) 663-665 (2003)