Applications and noise properties of high repetition rate : TiSapphire frequency combs
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2011.
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Format: | Thesis |
Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2011
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66001 |
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author | Benedick, Andrew John |
author2 | Franz X. Kdrtner and Erich P. Ippen. |
author_facet | Franz X. Kdrtner and Erich P. Ippen. Benedick, Andrew John |
author_sort | Benedick, Andrew John |
collection | MIT |
description | Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2011. |
first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:33:15Z |
format | Thesis |
id | mit-1721.1/66001 |
institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
language | eng |
last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:33:15Z |
publishDate | 2011 |
publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
record_format | dspace |
spelling | mit-1721.1/660012019-04-10T18:11:35Z Applications and noise properties of high repetition rate : TiSapphire frequency combs TiSapphire frequency combs Benedick, Andrew John Franz X. Kdrtner and Erich P. Ippen. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2011. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-186). Femtosecond mode-locked lasers are a unique laser technology due to their broad optical bandwidth and potential for linking the optical and radio frequency domains when these lasers are configured as frequency combs. Ti:Sapphire based mode-locked lasers offer considerable advantages over other laser systems by generating both the broadest optical spectrum and highest fundamental pulse repetition rates directly from the laser cavity. Recent advances in laser diode technology have reduced the cost of pump lasers for Ti:Sapphire based frequency combs considerably, and the recent demonstration of direct diode pumping of a narrowband mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser suggests that Ti:Sapphire frequency combs may finally be ready to make the transition from an indispensible research tool to a wider set of industrial applications. In this thesis, several applications and fundamental properties of Ti:Sapphire based mode-locked lasers are investigated. To enable more widespread use of Ti:Sapphire based frequency combs, a frequency comb based on an octave spanning 1 GHz Ti:Sapphire laser is demonstrated. The I GHz Ti:Sapphire laser is referenced to a methane stabilized HeNe laser, resulting in a frequency comb with a fractional frequency stability of its optical spectrum of 2x1 0-14 on a 20 second timescale. A recently identified frequency comb application is the calibration of astronomical spectrographs to enable detection of Earth-like planets which are orbiting Sun-like stars. In support of this application, a second frequency comb system was constructed which ultimately was characterized by a 51 GHz pulse repetition rate and 12 nm bandwidth centered at 410 nm. This "astro-comb" system was deployed to the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory where preliminary results indicate a 40-fold increase in the spectrograph stability due to calibration by the astro-comb. Finally, the stability of the optical pulse train emitted from femtosecond mode-locked lasers is expected to exhibit the lowest phase noise of any oscillator, with theoretical predictions of phase noise levels below -190 dBc for offset frequencies exceeding 1 kHz. A comparison between the pulse trains of two nearly identical mode-locked lasers resulted in a measured timing error of less than 13 attoseconds measured over the entire Nyquist bandwidth. by Andrew John Benedick. Ph.D. 2011-09-27T18:30:54Z 2011-09-27T18:30:54Z 2011 2011 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66001 751528299 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 186 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
spellingShingle | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Benedick, Andrew John Applications and noise properties of high repetition rate : TiSapphire frequency combs |
title | Applications and noise properties of high repetition rate : TiSapphire frequency combs |
title_full | Applications and noise properties of high repetition rate : TiSapphire frequency combs |
title_fullStr | Applications and noise properties of high repetition rate : TiSapphire frequency combs |
title_full_unstemmed | Applications and noise properties of high repetition rate : TiSapphire frequency combs |
title_short | Applications and noise properties of high repetition rate : TiSapphire frequency combs |
title_sort | applications and noise properties of high repetition rate tisapphire frequency combs |
topic | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. |
url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/66001 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT benedickandrewjohn applicationsandnoisepropertiesofhighrepetitionratetisapphirefrequencycombs AT benedickandrewjohn tisapphirefrequencycombs |