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Ultra-stable microwave generation with a diode-pumped solid-state laser in the 1.5-μm range

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Abstract

We demonstrate the first ultra-stable microwave generation based on a 1.5-μm diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) frequency comb. Our system relies on optical-to-microwave frequency division from a planar-waveguide external cavity laser referenced to an ultra-stable Fabry–Perot cavity. The evaluation of the microwave signal at ~10 GHz uses the transportable ultra-low-instability signal source ULISS®, which employs a cryo-cooled sapphire oscillator. With the DPSSL comb, we measured −125 dBc/Hz phase noise at 1 kHz offset frequency, likely limited by the photo-detection shot-noise or by the noise floor of the reference cryo-cooled sapphire oscillator. For comparison, we also generated low-noise microwave using a commercial Er:fiber comb stabilized in similar conditions and observed >20 dB lower phase noise in the microwave generated from the DPSSL comb. Our results confirm the high potential of the DPSSL technology for low-noise comb applications.

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Acknowledgments

The work at Laboratoire Temps-Fréquence was financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and by the Swiss Confederation Program Nano-Tera.ch, scientifically evaluated by SNSF. Authors from Femto-ST are grateful to the Fond Européen de Dévelopment Régional (FEDER), the Regional Council of Franche-Comté and OSEO for their support to the ULISS project. We thank L.-G. Bernier (METAS) for fruitful discussions about the impact of frequency counters on stability measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Temps-Fréquence, Institut de physique, Université de Neuchâtel, Avenue de Bellevaux 51, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Vladimir Dolgovskiy, Stéphane Schilt, Nikola Bucalovic, Gianni Di Domenico & Thomas Südmeyer

  2. Time and Frequency Department, UMR 6174 CNRS, FEMTO-ST Institute, UFC, ENSMM, Chemin de l’Epitaphe 26, 25030, Besançon Cedex, France

    Serge Grop, Benoît Dubois & Vincent Giordano

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  1. Vladimir Dolgovskiy
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  2. Stéphane Schilt
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Correspondence to Stéphane Schilt.

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Dolgovskiy, V., Schilt, S., Bucalovic, N. et al. Ultra-stable microwave generation with a diode-pumped solid-state laser in the 1.5-μm range. Appl. Phys. B 116, 593–601 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-013-5740-7

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