A six-octave optical frequency comb from a scalable few-cycle erbium fiber laser
arXiv:2005.13673 · doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00778-y
Abstract
A compact and robust coherent laser light source that provides spectral coverage from the ultraviolet to infrared is desirable for numerous applications, including heterodyne super resolution imaging[1], broadband infrared microscopy[2], protein structure determination[3], and standoff atmospheric trace-gas detection[4]. Addressing these demanding measurement problems, laser frequency combs[5] combine user-defined spectral resolution with sub-femtosecond timing and waveform control to enable new modalities of high-resolution, high-speed, and broadband spectroscopy[6-9]. In this Letter we introduce a scalable source of near-single-cycle, 0.56 MW pulses generated from robust and low-noise erbium fiber (Er:fiber) technology, and we use it to generate a frequency comb that spans six octaves from the ultraviolet (350 nm) to mid-infrared (22500 nm). The high peak power allows us to exploit the second-order nonlinearities in infrared-transparent, nonlinear crystals (LiNbO, GaSe, and CSP) to provide a robust source of phase-stable infrared ultra-short pulses with simultaneous spectral brightness exceeding that of an infrared synchrotron[10]. Additional cascaded second-order nonlinearities in LiNbO lead to comb generation with four octaves of simultaneous coverage (0.350 to 5.6 m). With a comb-tooth linewidth of 10 kHz at 193 THz, we realize a notable spectral resolving power exceeding 10 across 0.86 PHz of bandwidth. We anticipate that this compact and accessible technology will open new opportunities for multi-band precision spectroscopy, coherent microscopy, ultra-high sensitivity nanoscopy, astronomical spectroscopy, and precision carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stable strong field phenomena.
6 pages, 5 figures. Nat. Photonics (2021)
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- Direct Frequency Comb Measurement of OD + CO -> DOCO Kinetics
- Subcycle Quantum Electrodynamics
- Molecular fingerprint-region spectroscopy from 5-12 μm using an orientation-patterned gallium phosphide optical parametric oscillator
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- Spatially resolved mass flux measurements with dual comb spectroscopy
- Erbium-doped-fiber-based broad visible range frequency comb with a 30 GHz mode spacing for astronomical applications
- Optical Indistinguishability via Twinning Fields
- Lightwave-Electronic Harmonic Frequency Mixing
- Sequential optical response suppression for chemical mixture characterization
- Attosecond physics in optical near fields
- Controlling rotationally-resolved two-dimensional infrared spectra with polarization
- Theory of rotationally resolved two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy including polarization dependence and rotational coherence dynamics
- Time crystal optomechanics
- Spectral dynamics in broadband frequency combs with overlapping harmonics
- Optical control of electrons in a Floquet topological insulator
- Broadband complementary vibrational spectroscopy with cascaded intra-pulse difference frequency generation