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  • Open Access

Mechanical Control of a Microrod-Resonator Optical Frequency Comb

Scott B. Papp*, Pascal Del’Haye, and Scott A. Diddams

  • National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA

  • *scott.papp@nist.gov
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Phys. Rev. X 3, 031003 – Published 8 July, 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.3.031003

Abstract

We report on the stabilization of a microresonator-based optical frequency comb (microcomb) by way of mechanical actuation. These experiments use novel CO2-laser-machined microrod resonators, which are introduced here and feature optical Q≳5×108, less than 1 minute processing time, and tunable geometry. Residual fluctuations of our 32.6 GHz microcomb line spacing reach a stability level of 5×10−15 for 1 s averaging, thereby highlighting the potential of microcombs to support modern optical-frequency standards. Furthermore, measurements of the line spacing with respect to an independent frequency reference reveal stabilization of different spectral slices of the comb with a <0.5−mHz variation among 140 comb lines spanning 4.5 THz. Together, these results demonstrate an important step in the development of microcombs, namely, that they can be fabricated and precisely controlled with simple and accessible techniques.

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Popular Summary

Measuring optical frequencies with a precision up to 20 digits after the decimal point sounds like a prohibitively difficult task. But that is exactly what has been achieved by optical-frequency combs, which are composed of many thousands of phase-locked laser teeth all separated by an equal frequency spacing. The more-established frequency combs are all based on tabletop, mode-locked lasers. While this approach has been successful, an alternative that is much smaller in size and lower in power consumption but with similar measurement precision could leverage precision metrology in new fields of research, particularly outside the laboratory. Such an alternative has recently emerged in the form of optical-microcavity-based frequency combs, or “microcombs.” In this experimental paper, we report two important advances in the development of microcombs.

In microcombs, the comb generation relies on a nonlinear optical effect in a microcavity—parametric oscillation—which can create 1000 or more new colors of light from a single monochromatic laser. We have made two new and significant steps forward in developing microcombs. First, we have developed a new microcavity fabrication method that employs laser machining to produce an ultrahigh-quality-factor device in less than one minute. This important technical simplification over the existing fabrication techniques will allow rapid exploration and optimization of microcomb physics. Second, based on the realization that high-sensitivity control of the optical modes of the cavity can be achieved through applying mechanical strain to the cavity, we have achieved line-spacing stabilization of the optical spectrum of our microcomb in the wavelength span from 1510 nm to 1620 nm with a precision of 5×10−15. This degree of stabilization demonstrates the potential of this new frequency-comb platform to support modern frequency references beyond the level associated with the best traditional technology.

Our mechanical technique can be applied to any microcavity geometry, and it offers the performance needed to support today’s best optical clocks. We foresee further developments that increase the frequency span by leveraging the ultrafast optical waveform generated from the superposition of phase-locked comb modes. This will make possible all-optical stabilization of microcombs for applications that rely on ultraprecise frequency and timing measurements.

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Phys. Rev. X 3, 031003– Published 8 July, 2013
  • Received 27 February 2013
Article part of CHORUS
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This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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