${\chi }^{(2)}$ mid-infrared frequency comb generation and stabilization with few-cycle pulses

Abstract

Mid-infrared laser frequency combs are compelling sources for precise and sensitive metrology with applications in molecular spectroscopy and spectro-imaging. The infrared atmospheric window between 3-5.5 $\mu$m in particular provides vital information regarding molecular composition. Using a robust, fiber-optic source of few-cycle pulses in the near-infrared, we experimentally demonstrate ultra-broad bandwidth nonlinear phenomena including harmonic and difference frequency generation in a single pass through periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN). These ${\chi }^{(2)}$ nonlinear optical processes result in the generation of frequency combs across the mid-infrared atmospheric window which we employ for dual-comb spectroscopy of acetone and carbonyl sulfide with resolution as high as 0.003 cm${}^{-1}$. Moreover, cascaded ${\chi }^{(2)}$ nonlinearities in the same PPLN directly provide the carrier-envelope offset frequency of the near-infrared driving pulse train in a compact geometry.

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• A six-octave optical frequency comb from a scalable few-cycle erbium fiber laser
• Ultra-broadband mid-infrared generation in dispersion-engineered thin-film lithium niobate
• Fully phase-stabilized 1 GHz turnkey frequency comb at 1.56 $\mu$m
• Mid-infrared frequency combs at 10 GHz
• Broadband ultraviolet-visible frequency combs from cascaded high-harmonic generation in quasi-phase-matched waveguides
• High-Power Mid-IR Few-Cycle Frequency Comb from Quadratic Solitons in an Optical Parametric Oscillator
• Two-octave-wide (3-12 μm) mid-infrared frequency comb produced as an optical subharmonic in a nondispersive cavity