Accurate measurement of large optical frequency differences with a mode-locked laser

作者：Th. Udem, Johannes Reichert, Ronald Holzwarth, Theodor W. Hänsch · 发表于：Optics Letters · 年份：1999 · DOI：10.1364/ol.24.000881 · 被引用次数：414 · 研究领域：Advanced Fiber Laser Technologies、Spectroscopy and Laser Applications、Advanced Frequency and Time Standards

We have used the comb of optical frequencies emitted by a mode-locked laser as a ruler to measure differences of as much as 20 THz between laser frequencies. This is to our knowledge the largest gap measured with a frequency comb, with high potential for further improvements. To check the accuracy of this approach we show that the modes are distributed uniformly in frequency space within the experimental limit of 3.0 parts in 10(17) . By comparison with an optical frequency comb generator we have verified that the mode separation equals the pulse repetition rate within the experimental limit of 6.0 parts in 10(16).