Abstract

A frequency comb generated by a 167 MHz repetition frequency erbium-doped fiber ring laser using a carbon nanotube saturable absorber is phase-stabilized for the first time. Measurements of the in-loop phase noise show an integrated phase error on the carrier envelope offset frequency of 0.35 radians. The carbon nanotube fiber laser comb is compared with a CW laser near 1533 nm stabilized to the ν₁ + ν₃ overtone transition in an acetylene-filled kagome photonic crystal fiber reference, while the CW laser is simultaneously compared to another frequency comb based on a Cr:Forsterite laser. These measurements demonstrate that the stability of a GPS-disciplined Rb clock is transferred to the comb, resulting in an upper limit on the locked comb’s frequency instability of 1.2 × 10⁻¹¹ in 1 s, and a relative instability of <3 × 10⁻¹² in 1 s. The carbon nanotube laser frequency comb offers much promise as a robust and inexpensive all-fiber frequency comb with potential for scaling to higher repetition frequencies.

© 2009 OSA

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History
Original Manuscript: June 19, 2009
Manuscript Accepted: July 26, 2009
Revised Manuscript: July 24, 2009
Published: August 3, 2009

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Author Affiliations

Jinkang Lim, Kevin Knabe, Karl A. Tillman, William Neely, Kristan L. Corwin, Brian R. Washburn

116 Cardwell Hall, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA

Yishan Wang

116 Cardwell Hall, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USAState Key Laboratory of Transient Optics and Photonics, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, PRC

Rodrigo Amezcua-Correa, François Couny, Philip S. Light, Fetah Benabid, Jonathan C. Knight

Centre for Photonics and Photonics Materials, Dept. of Physics, University of Bath, BA2, 7AY, UK

Jeffrey W. Nicholson

OFS Labs, Somerset, NJ 08873 USA

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