Methods for precision optical frequency synthesis and molecular detection
First Claim
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1. A laser system, comprising:
- a laser source generating a cw output beam at an optical emission frequency;
a frequency comb source to generate a frequency comb;
a detection system that receives a portion of said cw beam and a portion of said frequency comb, said detection system configured to generate a beat signal representative of a frequency difference between a line of the frequency comb and the optical emission frequency of the cw output beam;
a stabilizer operatively connected to said detection system to stabilize said beat signal and said cw optical emission frequency; and
a frequency shifter disposed downstream from said laser source, the frequency shifter receiving a portion of said cw output beam as an optical input and a frequency shifted beat signal as an electrical input,wherein said frequency shifter generates a line narrowed and frequency shifted cw laser output, said frequency shifter being driven by a signal derived from said beat signal in a feedforward configuration.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to precision linewidth control and frequency measurements of continuous wave lasers for the near to far IR spectral regions, precision frequency synthesizers and exemplary applications in molecular detection. Methods and systems are disclosed for simultaneous line narrowing of cw lasers, as well as referencing the desired emission wavelength to a frequency comb laser.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A laser system, comprising:
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a laser source generating a cw output beam at an optical emission frequency; a frequency comb source to generate a frequency comb; a detection system that receives a portion of said cw beam and a portion of said frequency comb, said detection system configured to generate a beat signal representative of a frequency difference between a line of the frequency comb and the optical emission frequency of the cw output beam; a stabilizer operatively connected to said detection system to stabilize said beat signal and said cw optical emission frequency; and a frequency shifter disposed downstream from said laser source, the frequency shifter receiving a portion of said cw output beam as an optical input and a frequency shifted beat signal as an electrical input, wherein said frequency shifter generates a line narrowed and frequency shifted cw laser output, said frequency shifter being driven by a signal derived from said beat signal in a feedforward configuration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A laser system, comprising:
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a laser source generating a cw output beam at an optical emission frequency; a frequency comb source to generate a frequency comb; a frequency up-converter comprising a sum-frequency generation stage (SFG) and a supercontinuum stage (SC) to provide frequency up-conversion, said SFG receiving a portion of said cw beam, said SFG and said SC each receiving a portion of said frequency comb, wherein said SFG and said SC, in combination, generate two frequency combs; a detection system that receives a portion of each of said frequency combs, said detection system being configured to generate a beat signal between the SFG comb and the SC comb; a stabilizer operatively connected to said detection system to stabilize said beat signal and said cw optical emission frequency; and a frequency shifter disposed downstream from said cw laser, the frequency shifter receiving a portion of said cw output beam as an optical input and a frequency shifted version of said beat signal between the SFG comb and the SC comb as an electrical input, wherein said frequency shifter generates a line narrowed and frequency shifted cw laser output. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification