Abstract
We introduce a method for determination of the absolute frequencies of comb lines within an optical frequency comb spectrum. The method utilizes the experimental and theoretical approach of the velocity-selective optical pumping of the atomic ground state hyperfine levels induced by resonant pulse-train excitation. The information on the laser pulse repetition frequency and carrier–envelope offset are physically mapped onto the 87Rb ground state hyperfine level population velocity distributions. Theoretical spectra are calculated using an iterative analytic solution of the optical Bloch equations describing the resonant pulse-train excitation of four-level 87Rb atoms. They are employed to fit the measured spectra and obtain the parameters of the frequency comb, thus providing a practical algorithm which can be used in real-time measurements.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
A.D. Ludlow, T. Zelevinsky, G.K. Campbell, S. Blatt, M.M. Boyd, M.H.G. de Miranda, M.J. Martin, J.W. Thomsen, S.M. Foreman, J. Ye, T.M. Fortier, J.E. Stalnaker, S.A. Diddams, Y. Le Coq, Z.W. Barber, N. Poli, N.D. Lemke, K.M. Beck, C.W. Oates, Science 319, 1805 (2008)
T. Rosenband, D.B. Hume, P.O. Schmidt, C.W. Chou, A. Brusch, L. Lorini, W.H. Oskay, R.E. Drullinger, T.M. Fortier, J.E. Stalnaker, S.A. Diddams, W.C. Swann, N.R. Newbury, W.M. Itano, D.J. Wineland, J.C. Bergquist, Science 319, 1808 (2008)
J.Y.S. Cundiff, J. Hall, Sci. Am. April, 74 (2008)
J. Ye, S.T. Cundiff, Femtosecond Optical Frequency Comb Technology (Springer, Boston, 2005)
S.T. Cundiff, J. Ye, Rev. Mod. Phys. 75, 325 (2003)
T. Udem, J. Reichert, R. Holzwarth, T.W. Hänsch, Opt. Lett. 24, 881 (1999)
R. Holzwarth, T. Udem, T.W. Hänsch, J.C. Knight, W.J. Wadsworth, P.S.J. Russell, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2264 (2000)
S.A. Diddams, L. Hollberg, L.S. Ma, L. Robertsson, Opt. Lett. 27, 58 (2002)
L.S. Ma, Z. Bi, A. Bartels, L. Robertsson, M. Zucco, R.S. Windeler, G. Wilpers, C. Oates, L. Hollberg, S.A. Diddams, Science 303, 1843 (2004)
S.A. Diddams, D.J. Jones, J. Ye, S.T. Cundiff, J.L. Hall, J.K. Ranka, R.S. Windeler, R. Holzwarth, T. Udem, T.W. Hänsch, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5102 (2000)
U. Morgner, R. Ell, G. Metzler, T.R. Schibli, F.X. Kärtner, J.G. Fujimoto, H.A. Haus, E.P. Ippen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5462 (2001)
H.R. Telle, G. Steinmeyer, A.E. Dunlop, J. Stenger, D.H. Sutter, U. Keller, Appl. Phys. B, Lasers Opt. 69, 327 (1999)
T.M. Ramond, S.A. Diddams, L. Hollberg, A. Bartels, Opt. Lett. 27, 1842 (2002)
A. Marian, M.C. Stowe, J.R. Lawall, D. Felinto, J. Ye, Science 306, 2063 (2004)
M.C. Stowe, M.J. Thorpe, A. Pe’er, J. Ye, J.E. Stalnaker, V. Gerginoo, S.A. Diddams, Adv. At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 55, 1 (2008)
D. Felinto, C.A.C. Bosco, L.H. Acioli, S.S. Vianna, Opt. Commun. 215, 69 (2003)
D. Felinto, L.H. Acioli, S.S. Vianna, Phys. Rev. A 70, 043403 (2004)
D. Felinto, C.A.C. Bosco, L.H. Acioli, S.S. Vianna, Phys. Rev. A 64, 063413 (2001)
D. Aumiler, T. Ban, H. Skenderović, G. Pichler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 233001 (2005)
T. Ban, D. Aumiler, H. Skenderović, G. Pichler, Phys. Rev. A 73, 043407 (2006)
N. Vujičić, S. Vdović, D. Aumiler, T. Ban, H. Skenderović, G. Pichler, Eur. Phys. J. D 41, 447 (2007)
T. Ban, D. Aumiler, H. Skenderović, S. Vdović, N. Vujičić, G. Pichler, Phys. Rev. A 76, 043410 (2007)
D. Aumiler, T. Ban, G. Pichler, Phys. Rev. A 79, 063403 (2009)
J. Ye, S. Swartz, P. Jungner, J.L. Hall, Opt. Lett. 21, 1280 (1996)
S. Bize, Y. Sortais, M.S. Santos, C. Manache, A. Clarion, C. Salomon, Europhys. Lett. 45, 558 (1999)
M. Maric, J.J. McFerran, A.N. Luiten, Phys. Rev. A 77, 032502 (2008)
O. Axner, J. Gustafsson, N. Omenetto, J.D. Winefordner, Spectrochim. Acta Part B 59, 1 (2004)
R.W. Boyd, Nonlinear Optics (Academic Press, San Diego, 2003)
D.A. Steck, Alkali D line data. http://steck.us/alkalidata
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Aumiler, D., Ban, T., Vujičić, N. et al. Characterization of an optical frequency comb using modified direct frequency comb spectroscopy. Appl. Phys. B 97, 553–560 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-009-3630-9
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-009-3630-9