Compact optical atomic clocks and applications based on parametric nonlinear optical mixing in whispering gallery mode optical resonators
First Claim
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1. A device, comprising:
- an optical resonator formed of an optical material exhibiting optical nonlinearity and producing an optical frequency comb based on nonlinear wave mixing caused by the optical nonlinearity;
a laser that is tunable and produces laser light that interacts with the optical material of the optical resonator based on the nonlinear wave mixing to produce the optical frequency comb;
a laser locking mechanism that locks the laser to the optical resonator;
an atomic reference device that includes atoms or molecules providing an atomic or molecular transition and is coupled to receive light coupled out of the optical resonator to produce output light carrying information of the atomic or molecular transition;
a first optical detector that receives the output light from the atomic reference device to produce a first detector output;
a feedback circuit that receives the first detector output and produces a feedback signal, the feedback circuit coupled to at least one of the laser or the optical resonator to apply the feedback signal to stabilize the at least one of the laser or the optical resonator; and
a second optical detector that receives light coupled by an optical coupler out of the optical resonator to convert the optical frequency comb into a second detector signal which is stabilized in frequency relative to the atomic or molecular transition of the atomic reference device.
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Abstract
Techniques and devices based on optical resonators made of nonlinear optical materials and nonlinear wave mixing to generate optical combs that are stabilized relative to an atomic reference.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A device, comprising:
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an optical resonator formed of an optical material exhibiting optical nonlinearity and producing an optical frequency comb based on nonlinear wave mixing caused by the optical nonlinearity; a laser that is tunable and produces laser light that interacts with the optical material of the optical resonator based on the nonlinear wave mixing to produce the optical frequency comb; a laser locking mechanism that locks the laser to the optical resonator; an atomic reference device that includes atoms or molecules providing an atomic or molecular transition and is coupled to receive light coupled out of the optical resonator to produce output light carrying information of the atomic or molecular transition; a first optical detector that receives the output light from the atomic reference device to produce a first detector output; a feedback circuit that receives the first detector output and produces a feedback signal, the feedback circuit coupled to at least one of the laser or the optical resonator to apply the feedback signal to stabilize the at least one of the laser or the optical resonator; and a second optical detector that receives light coupled by an optical coupler out of the optical resonator to convert the optical frequency comb into a second detector signal which is stabilized in frequency relative to the atomic or molecular transition of the atomic reference device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A device, comprising:
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an optical resonator which exhibits optical nonlinearity and is configured to be a whispering gallery mode resonator supporting optical whispering gallery modes; a laser that is tunable and produces laser light; an optical coupler that couples the laser light into the optical resonator to cause generation of an optical comb signal of different frequencies based on nonlinear wave mixing in the optical resonator; an atomic reference device that includes atoms or molecules providing an atomic or molecular transition as a frequency reference; and a locking circuit that locks at least one of the optical resonator or the laser in frequency relative to the atomic or molecular transition of the atomic reference device to stabilize the optical comb of different frequencies. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for generating a radio frequency (RF) or microwave signal stabilized relative to an atomic frequency reference, comprising:
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directing laser light into an optical resonator to produce confined laser light inside the optical resonator in at least two different optical resonator modes that are separated by a free spectral range (FSR) of the optical resonator or a harmonic of the FSR; coupling the confined laser light inside the optical resonator out to as an optical resonator output having two optical spectral components corresponding to the at least two different optical resonator modes; locking the optical resonator relative to an atomic frequency reference to stabilize the two optical spectral components corresponding to the at least two different optical resonator modes in the optical resonator output; and directing the optical resonator output into a photodetector to produce a detector signal at a frequency of a frequency difference between the two optical spectral components that is stabilized relative to the atomic frequency reference. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for generating and stabilizing an optical comb relative to an atomic frequency reference, comprising:
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operating a laser to produce laser light; directing the laser light into an optical resonator exhibiting optical nonlinearity and supporting optical whispering gallery modes with sufficient power to generate an optical comb signal of different frequencies based on nonlinear wave mixing in the optical resonator; locking the laser and the optical resonator relative to each other; and locking the laser or the optical resonator relative to an atomic frequency reference to stabilize the optical comb of different frequencies. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A device, comprising:
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an optical resonator formed of a crystalline material exhibits optical nonlinearities and configured to be a whispering gallery mode resonator supporting optical whispering gallery modes; a laser that is tunable and produces laser light; an optical coupler that couples the laser light into the optical resonator which produces an optical comb of different frequencies based on optical nonlinearities of the crystalline material and couples light inside the optical resonator out of the optical resonator back to the laser to cause injection locking of the laser to the optical resonator; an atomic reference device that includes atoms or molecules providing a atomic or molecular transition and is coupled to receive light coupled out of the optical resonator to produce output light carrying information of the a atomic or molecular transition; a first optical detector that receives the output light from the atomic reference device to produce a first detector output; a feedback circuit that receives the first detector output and produces a feedback signal, the feedback circuit coupled to at least one of the laser or the optical resonator to apply the feedback signal to stabilize the at least one of the laser or the optical resonator; and a second optical detector that receives light coupled by the optical coupler out of the optical resonator to convert the optical comb of different frequencies into a second detector signal which is stabilized in frequency relative to the atomic or molecular transition of the atomic reference device.
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Specification