Simultaneous low noise radio frequency tone and narrow linewidth optical comb generation from a regeneratively mode-locked laser

Abstract

A regeneratively mode-locked laser with simultaneous low noise radio frequency (RF) tone and optical comb generation is presented. The laser does not need any external RF signal and emits a pulse train at similar to 10 GHz repetition rate with a 1.5-ps optical pulse width after compression. The generated RF tone has a signal-to-noise ratio of 121 dB/Hz and an RF fluctuation of 10(-9) over 0.1 s. The optical frequency comb spacing is also at similar to 10 GHz and the optical comb tooth has a linewidth of <1 kHz. (C) 2014 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)