Optical frequency division by 3 employing self-phase-locking in periodically poled lithium niobate

Abstract

A. method used to obtain frequencies in precise ratios of 2/3 and 1/3 of the pump is described as a possible way to extend the usable range of octave-spanning optical frequency combs for frequency metrology applications. The divider is based on a self- phase locked optical parametric oscillation in a doubly resonant semi-monolithic optical cavity containing a dual-grating periodically poled lithium niobate. The design, implementation and evaluation of such a frequency divider are described. Preliminary experimental data from the self-phase locked optical frequency divider is presented. We have obtained sub-100 mW threshold for the optical parametric oscillator with stable operation over 1 s without servo locking the cavity length. Preliminary results suggest that self-phase locking has been observed.