Octave-spanning lasers for optical metrology applications

Abstract

This thesis describes the first octave-spanning frequency comb based on a prismless, Ti:sapphire laser. It covers in detail the design and construction of the laser system, as well as the electronic stabilization scheme used to control the frequencies of the mode comb. The system developed is suitable for optical metrology applications in general, although the version here presented is locked to the hydrogen 1S-2S transition frequency in ultracold hydrogen. A detailed study of the carrier-envelope phase dynamics and noise characteristics of octave-spanning Ti:sapphire lasers is presented. We model the effect of the laser dynamics on the residual carrier-envelope phase noise by deriving a transfer function representation of the octave-spanning frequency comb. The modelled phase noise and the experimental results show excellent agreement. The model developed greatly enhances our capability of predicting the residual carrier-envelope phase noise in octave-spanning lasers, an important aspect in many time and frequency domain applications. Potential applications of the current system to ultraprecise optical frequency metrology of ultracold hydrogen are described.