Phase-stabilized 100 mW frequency comb near 10 μm

Kana Iwakuni; Gil Porat; Thinh Q Bui; Bryce J Bjork; Stephen B Schoun; Oliver H Heckl; Martin E Fermann; Jun Ye

doi:10.1007/s00340-018-6996-8

Phase-stabilized 100 mW frequency comb near 10 μm

Appl Phys B. 2018;124(7):128. doi: 10.1007/s00340-018-6996-8. Epub 2018 Jun 6.

Authors

Kana Iwakuni¹, Gil Porat¹, Thinh Q Bui¹, Bryce J Bjork^{1

2}, Stephen B Schoun¹, Oliver H Heckl^{1

3}, Martin E Fermann⁴, Jun Ye¹

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Physics, JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 USA.
² Present Address: Honeywell International, 303 Technology Court, Broomfield, CO 80021 USA.
³ 4Present Address: Christian Doppler Laboratory for Mid-IR Spectroscopy and Semiconductor Optics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
⁴ 2IMRA America, Inc., 1044 Woodridge Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48105 USA.

Abstract

Long-wavelength mid-infrared (MIR) frequency combs with high power and flexible tunability are highly desired for molecular spectroscopy, including investigation of large molecules such as C₆₀. We present a high power, phase-stabilized frequency comb near 10 μm, generated by a synchronously pumped, singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on AgGaSe₂. The OPO can be continuously tuned from 8.4 to 9.5 μm, with a maximum average idler power of 100 mW at the center wavelength of 8.5 μm. Both the repetition rate (f _rep) and the carrier-envelope offset frequency (f _ceo) of the idler wave are phase-locked to microwave signals referenced to a Cs clock. We describe the detailed design and construction of the frequency comb, and discuss potential applications for precise and sensitive direct frequency comb spectroscopy.