Tailored design of mode-locking dynamics for low-noise frequency-comb generation

Abstract

We report a mode-locked laser design using Yb-doped fiber lasers for low-noise frequency-comb generation. The frequency comb covers the spectral range from 700 to 1400 nm. Although this range is more practical for many measurements than that produced by the more commonly used Er-fiber lasers, it has been addressed in only a handful of reports, mainly due to the difficulty of generating a fully coherent supercontinuum at 1μm. We overcome this difficulty by a tailored design of the mode-locking dynamics that succeeds in generating energetic 33-fs-long pulses without even using higher-order-dispersion compensation, while ensuring that the laser operates with net zero cavity dispersion for low-noise supercontinuum generation. After locking to a Cs atomic clock, this frequency comb is used for absolute-frequency measurements of a Nd:YAG-I2 laser to verify its accuracy by comparison with results from the International Committee for Weights and Measures. After this verification, it is further used to measure the absolute frequency of a 543-nm two-mode stabilized He-Ne laser, which is routinely used for length measurements in our institute, thus verifying its practical utility in metrology applications. The entire setup is built with readily available components for easy duplication by other researchers.