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Frequency Space Measurement of the Spectrum of a Mode-Locked Diode Laser" (2010)

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Frequency Space Measurement of the Spectrum of a Mode-Locked Diode Laser W&M ScholarWorks Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 5-2010 Frequency Space Measurement of the Spectrum of a Mode- Locked Diode Laser Brian Richards College of William and Mary Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses Part of the Physics Commons Recommended Citation Richards, Brian, "Frequency Space Measurement of the Spectrum of a Mode-Locked Diode Laser" (2010). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 705. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/705 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Frequency Space Measurement of the Spectrum of a Mode-Locked Diode Laser A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Physics from the College of William and Mary in Virginia. By Brian Richards Accept for: BS in Physics_____________________________ (Honors) ______________________________ Advisor: Dr. Seth Aubin ______________________________ Dr. Charles Perdrisat ______________________________ Dr. John Delos ______________________________ Dr. Chi-Kwong Li Williamsburg, Virginia April 2010 [1] Abstract This thesis presents the development of a method for the direct measurement of the spectrum of a mode-locked diode laser using the beat note between the mode-locked laser and a continuous wave laser. This beat note frequency allows for the measurement of the optical frequency comb created by the mode-locked diode laser. The spectrum of the mode-locked diode laser was optimized using a spectrometer and an electronic amplification and filtering circuit was created to try and see the beat note frequency as it is expected to be small compared to the higher frequency terms created by the mode-locked diode laser. A beat note was observed with the diode laser in continuous wave mode and in a partially mode-locked state. The beat note with the diode laser in full mode-locking was not seen and various methods are suggested to explain and resolve this difficulty. [2] Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Seth Aubin for the time and help that he has given me as I have taken this project from start to finish. I would like to thank Megan Ivory, Jim Fields, and Austin Ziltz for all of their help in the lab. I would also like to thank Brian DeSalvo and Trevor Harrison for all the work they did on this project before me that has allowed me to do all the work I have done. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for everything they have done to get me to where I am today. [3] Table of Contents: Page: 1. Introduction 6 2. Theory 7 2.1 Optical Frequency Comb 7 2.2 Mode-Locked Lasers 9 2.2.1 Methods of Mode-Locking 9 2.2.2 Mode-Locked Diode Laser Testing 11 2.3 Beat Frequency 12 3. Experimental Setup and Approach 16 3.1 Optimization of Mode-Locked Diode Laser 16 3.2 Beat Frequency Measurement 19 3.2.1 Femtosecond Mode-Locked Titanium-Sapphire Laser 19 3.2.2 Mode-Locked Diode Laser 21 3.3 Electronic Filtering and Amplification 23 3.3.1 Stub Filter 23 3.3.2 Characterization of Filtering and Amplification 24 4. Experimental Results and Analysis 27 4.1 Continuous Wave Beat Frequency 27 4.2 Partially Mode-Locked Beat Frequency 28 4.3 Mode-Locked Beat Frequency 29 4.3.1 Stabilization 31 4.3.2 Changes in Optical Spectrum due to Optical Filtering 32 5. Outlook 35 [4] Page: 5.1 Future Recommendations 37 6. References 38 7. Appendix 39 [5] 1. Introduction Frequency and wavelength measurements of a laser are difficult to make with extreme precision. A high-resolution spectrometer can provide a precision of 0.5 nanometers (approximately 500 GHz at 780 nm) at Full-Width-Half-Maximum (FWHM). A FWHM measurement is one where the width of a spectrum is measured at half of the maximum of the spectrum. A wavemeter can provide precision of approximately 300 MHz depending on the quality of the meter. To get precision measurements of frequencies below 300 MHz, other methods must be employed. Higher precision is necessary to stabilize the frequency of a laser for use in precision spectroscopy. To reach this higher precision, an optical frequency comb may be employed to give measurements with an accuracy of 1 MHz or smaller. The optical frequency comb will act as a ruler to measure the difference between two lasers and stabilize one laser to another. The primary objective of this research was to make a measurement of the optical frequency spectrum of a mode-locked diode laser. Optical frequency combs have been implemented in the past primarily using a femtosecond Titanium-Sapphire (Ti:Sapph) laser in mode-locking. For our research, the laser used to implement the comb was a mode-locked diode laser which is considerably cheaper though it does not have the bandwidth of a femtosecond Ti:Sapph laser. The measurement of the spectrum can be done by measuring the beat note frequency between a continuous-wave mode laser and the mode-locked diode laser. This research also examines methods to characterize and optimize the comb width and pulse duration of the mode-locked diode laser by making adjustments to the laser cavity, RF modulation frequency and amplitude, and temperature control. The goal for this was to optimize the bandwidth of the optical frequency comb and create the most symmetric comb possible. A [6] brief examination of active and passive mode-locking was also made in regards to passive mode- locking being done by the diode laser outside of typical active mode-locking. This involved methods to stabilize the optical frequency comb of the mode-locked diode laser. Eventually, the optical frequency comb will be used as part of a stabilization system tied to an atomic or molecular transition of ultra-cold molecules being produced in the Ultra-Cold AMO Laboratory of Professor Seth Aubin. In section 2 of this thesis I will present the theory surrounding optical frequency combs, mode-locked lasers, and beat notes. In section 3 I will present the experimental setup and approach used in optimizing the mode-locked diode laser, measuring the beat frequency between a mode-locked diode laser and a continuous wave laser, and the electronic filtering and amplification used. In section 4 I will present the results of these experiments and show a beat note frequency with both beams in continuous wave mode, one of them partially mode-locked, one of them fully mode-locked. Section 4 will show that though a beat note was seen without the mode-locking, the existence of the optical frequency comb is in question. In section 5 I will present the outlook for this project and what can be done to improve the quality of the experiment. 2. Theory 2.1 Optical Frequency Comb The optical frequency comb is a set of evenly spaced Dirac delta functions in frequency space created by overlapping frequencies that will be separated by the free spectral range (FSR) or an RF modulation matched to the FSR of the laser cavity. These evenly spaced Dirac delta functions act as a ruler in frequency space as seen in Figure 1, allowing the frequencies of others lasers to be measured. The optical frequency comb can be implemented using a laser in either active mode-locking or passive mode-locking and will be detailed later. [7] Figure 1: Evenly spaced Dirac delta functions create a comb-like structure in frequency space that can act as a frequency ruler. The optical frequency comb can be used to measure the frequency difference between two lasers using the nature of the evenly spaced comb teeth as seen in Figure 2. To measure ∆FTOTAL a wavemeter is used to get a general reading of the frequency of the two lasers. From that, the general position of the laser within the comb can be determined along with the number of comb teeth separating the two lasers. From there, the frequency difference between each laser and the nearest comb tooth can be determined by overlapping the optical frequency comb signal with the continuous wave laser signal and measuring the beat note frequency. The production and measurement of the beat note frequency is discussed in greater detail in section 2.3. Once the beat note frequency has been determined for both lasers, it is summed with the number of comb teeth between the lasers to give ∆FTOTAL . [8] Figure 2: The even spacing of the comb teeth as well as the separation between two lasers can be seen. The green and blue lasers represent two continuous wave lasers being compared using the optical frequency comb. 2.2 Mode-Locked Lasers 2.2.1 Methods of Mode-Locking Mode-locking occurs when a laser has a pulsed output in the time domain. There are two standard ways of achieving pulsed output; passive mode-locking and active mode-locking. Passive mode-locking relies on the FSR of the laser cavity to provide the pulse repetition rate and uses a saturable absorber as an output coupler. The saturable absorber selectively transmits beams of high intensity while reflecting beams of low intensity [1]. As the beams return to the gain medium and reflect again, they will be amplified and slowly more will escape the laser cavity as seen in Figure 3. If the beam returns to the gain medium when the gain medium is at a maximum, then the beam will gain an extra amount of power.
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