Intensity Noise Optimization of a Mid-Infrared Frequency Comb Difference Frequency Generation Source

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate in a difference-frequency generation mid-infrared frequency comb source the effect of temporal overlap between pump- and signal- pulse to the relative intensity noise (RIN) of the idler pulse. When scanning the temporal delay between our 130 fs long signal- and pump pulses, we observe a RIN minimum with a 3 dB width of 20 fs delay and an RIN increase of 20 dB in 40 fs delay at the edges of this minimum. We also demonstrate active long-term stabilization of the mid-infrared frequency comb source to the temporal overlap setting corresponding to the lowest RIN operation point by an on-line RIN-detector and active feedback control of the pump-signal- pulse delay. This active stabilization set-up allowed us to dramatically increase the signal-to-noise ratio of mid-infrared absorption spectra.

References in corpus (5)

• Mid-infrared frequency combs
• Quantum-noise-limited optical frequency comb spectroscopy
• Cavity-enhanced optical frequency comb spectroscopy in the mid-infrared - application to trace detection of H2O2
• High-power broadband laser source tunable from 3.0 um to 4.4 um based on a femtosecond Yb:fiber oscillator
• High-power frequency comb source tunable from 2.7 to 4.2 μm based on difference frequency generation pumped by an Yb-doped fiber laser

Cited by in corpus (5)

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• Mid-infrared frequency comb with 25 pJ threshold via CW-seeded optical parametric generation in nonlinear waveguide
• Self-broadening and self-shift in the $3{\nu }_2$ band of ammonia from mid-infrared-frequency-comb spectroscopy