Laura C. Sinclair
National Institute of Standards and Technology
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Publication
Featured researches published by Laura C. Sinclair.
Nature Photonics | 2013
Fabrizio R. Giorgetta; William C. Swann; Laura C. Sinclair; Esther Baumann; Ian R. Coddington; Nathan R. Newbury
Using two-way exchange between coherent frequency combs, each phase-locked to the local optical oscillator, optical time–frequency transfer is demonstrated in free space across a 2-km-long link, with a timing deviation of 1 fs, a residual instability below 10−18 at 1,000 s and systematic offsets below 4 × 10−19.
Optics Express | 2014
Laura C. Sinclair; Ian R. Coddington; William C. Swann; Greg Rieker; Archita Hati; Kana Iwakuni; Nathan R. Newbury
We demonstrate a self-referenced fiber frequency comb that can operate outside the well-controlled optical laboratory. The frequency comb has residual optical linewidths of < 1 Hz, sub-radian residual optical phase noise, and residual pulse-to-pulse timing jitter of 2.4 - 5 fs, when locked to an optical reference. This fully phase-locked frequency comb has been successfully operated in a moving vehicle with 0.5 g peak accelerations and on a shaker table with a sustained 0.5 g rms integrated acceleration, while retaining its optical coherence and 5-fs-level timing jitter. This frequency comb should enable metrological measurements outside the laboratory with the precision and accuracy that are the hallmarks of comb-based systems.
Review of Scientific Instruments | 2015
Laura C. Sinclair; Jean-Daniel Deschenes; L. Sonderhouse; William C. Swann; Isaac Khader; Esther Baumann; Nathan R. Newbury; Ian R. Coddington
We describe the design, fabrication, and performance of a self-referenced, optically coherent frequency comb. The system robustness is derived from a combination of an optics package based on polarization-maintaining fiber, saturable absorbers for mode-locking, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) detection of the control signals, and digital feedback control for frequency stabilization. The output is phase-coherent over a 1-2 μm octave-spanning spectrum with a pulse repetition rate of ∼200 MHz and a residual pulse-to-pulse timing jitter <3 fs well within the requirements of most frequency-comb applications. Digital control enables phase coherent operation for over 90 h, critical for phase-sensitive applications such as timekeeping. We show that this phase-slip free operation follows the fundamental limit set by the SNR of the control signals. Performance metrics from three nearly identical combs are presented. This laptop-sized comb should enable a wide-range of applications beyond the laboratory.
Optics Letters | 2013
Esther Baumann; Fabrizio R. Giorgetta; Ian R. Coddington; Laura C. Sinclair; Kevin Knabe; William C. Swann; Nathan R. Newbury
We demonstrate a comb-calibrated frequency-modulated continuous-wave laser detection and ranging (FMCW ladar) system for absolute distance measurements. The FMCW ladar uses a compact external cavity laser that is swept quasi-sinusoidally over 1 THz at a 1 kHz rate. The system simultaneously records the heterodyne FMCW ladar signal and the instantaneous laser frequency at sweep rates up to 3400 THz/s, as measured against a free-running frequency comb (femtosecond fiber laser). Demodulation of the ladar signal against the instantaneous laser frequency yields the range to the target with 1 ms update rates, bandwidth-limited 130 μm resolution and a ~100 nm accuracy that is directly linked to the counted repetition rate of the comb. The precision is <100 nm at the 1 ms update rate and reaches ~6 nm for a 100 ms average.
Chemical Physics Letters | 2012
Kevin C. Cossel; Daniel Gresh; Laura C. Sinclair; Tyler Coffey; L. V. Skripnikov; Alexander Petrov; N. S. Mosyagin; Anatoly V. Titov; Robert W. Field; Edmund R. Meyer; Eric A. Cornell; J. Ye
Precision spectroscopy of trapped HfF + will be used in a search for the permanent electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM). While this dipole moment has yet to be observed, various extensions to the standard model of particle physics (such as supersymmetry) predict values that are close to the current limit. We present extensive survey spectroscopy of 19 bands covering nearly 5000 cm −1 using both frequency-comb and single-frequency laser velocity-modulation spectroscopy. We obtain high-precision rovibrational constants for eight electronic states inclu ding those that will be necessary for state preparation and r eadout in an actual eEDM experiment.
Physical Review X | 2016
Jean-Daniel Deschenes; Laura C. Sinclair; Fabrizio R. Giorgetta; William C. Swann; Esther Baumann; Hugo Bergeron; Michael Cermak; Ian R. Coddington; Nathan R. Newbury
The use of optical clocks/oscillators in future ultra-precise navigation, gravitational sensing, coherent arrays, and relativity experiments will require time comparison and synchronization over terrestrial or satellite free-space links. Here we demonstrate full unambiguous synchronization of two optical timescales across a free-space link. The time deviation between synchronized timescales is below 1 fs over durations from 0.1 s to 6500 s, despite atmospheric turbulence and kilometer-scale path length variations. Over several days, the time wander is 40 fs peak-to-peak. Our approach relies on the two-way reciprocity of a single-spatial-mode optical link, valid to below 225 attoseconds across a turbulent 4-km path. This femtosecond level of time-frequency transfer should enable optical networks using state-of-the-art optical clocks/oscillators.
Nature | 2018
Daryl T. Spencer; Tara E. Drake; Travis C. Briles; Jordan R. Stone; Laura C. Sinclair; Connor Fredrick; Qing Li; Daron A. Westly; B. Robert Ilic; Aaron Bluestone; Nicolas Volet; Tin Komljenovic; Lin Chang; Seung Hoon Lee; Dong Yoon Oh; Myoung-Gyun Suh; Ki Youl Yang; Martin H. P. Pfeiffer; Tobias J. Kippenberg; Erik J. Norberg; Luke Theogarajan; Kerry J. Vahala; Nathan R. Newbury; Kartik Srinivasan; John E. Bowers; Scott A. Diddams; Scott B. Papp
Integrated-photonics microchips now enable a range of advanced functionalities for high-coherence applications such as data transmission, highly optimized physical sensors, and harnessing quantum states, but with cost, efficiency, and portability much beyond tabletop experiments. Through high-volume semiconductor processing built around advanced materials there exists an opportunity for integrated devices to impact applications cutting across disciplines of basic science and technology. Here we show how to synthesize the absolute frequency of a lightwave signal, using integrated photonics to implement lasers, system interconnects, and nonlinear frequency comb generation. The laser frequency output of our synthesizer is programmed by a microwave clock across 4 THz near 1550 nm with 1 Hz resolution and traceability to the SI second. This is accomplished with a heterogeneously integrated III/V-Si tunable laser, which is guided by dual dissipative-Kerr-soliton frequency combs fabricated on silicon chips. Through out-of-loop measurements of the phase-coherent, microwave-to-optical link, we verify that the fractional-frequency instability of the integrated photonics synthesizer matches the 7.0x10^(−13) reference-clock instability for a 1 second acquisition, and constrain any synthesis error to 7.7x10^(−15) while stepping the synthesizer across the telecommunication C band. Any application of an optical frequency source would be enabled by the precision optical synthesis presented here. Building on the ubiquitous capability in the microwave domain, our results demonstrate a first path to synthesis with integrated photonics, leveraging low-cost, low-power, and compact features that will be critical for its widespread use.Optical-frequency synthesizers, which generate frequency-stable light from a single microwave-frequency reference, are revolutionizing ultrafast science and metrology, but their size, power requirement and cost need to be reduced if they are to be more widely used. Integrated-photonics microchips can be used in high-coherence applications, such as data transmission1, highly optimized physical sensors2 and harnessing quantum states3, to lower cost and increase efficiency and portability. Here we describe a method for synthesizing the absolute frequency of a lightwave signal, using integrated photonics to create a phase-coherent microwave-to-optical link. We use a heterogeneously integrated III–V/silicon tunable laser, which is guided by nonlinear frequency combs fabricated on separate silicon chips and pumped by off-chip lasers. The laser frequency output of our optical-frequency synthesizer can be programmed by a microwave clock across 4 terahertz near 1,550 nanometres (the telecommunications C-band) with 1 hertz resolution. Our measurements verify that the output of the synthesizer is exceptionally stable across this region (synthesis error of 7.7 × 10−15 or below). Any application of an optical-frequency source could benefit from the high-precision optical synthesis presented here. Leveraging high-volume semiconductor processing built around advanced materials could allow such low-cost, low-power and compact integrated-photonics devices to be widely used.An optical-frequency synthesizer based on stabilized frequency combs has been developed utilizing chip-scale devices as key components, in a move towards using integrated photonics technology for ultrafast science and metrology.
Physical Review Letters | 2011
Laura C. Sinclair; Kevin C. Cossel; Tyler Coffey; J. Ye; Eric A. Cornell
We have demonstrated a new technique that provides massively parallel comb spectroscopy sensitive specifically to ions through the combination of cavity-enhanced direct frequency comb spectroscopy with velocity-modulation spectroscopy. Using this novel system, we have measured electronic transitions of HfF⁺ and achieved a fractional absorption sensitivity of 3×10⁻⁷ recorded over 1500 simultaneous channels spanning 150 cm⁻¹ around 800 nm with an absolute frequency accuracy of 30 MHz (0.001 cm⁻¹). A fully sampled spectrum consisting of interleaved measurements is acquired in 30 min.
Applied Physics Letters | 2016
Laura C. Sinclair; William C. Swann; Hugo Bergeron; Esther Baumann; Michael Cermak; Ian R. Coddington; Jean-Daniel Deschênes; Fabrizio R. Giorgetta; Juan C. Juarez; Isaac Khader; Keith G. Petrillo; Katherine T. Souza; Michael L. Dennis; Nathan R. Newbury
We demonstrate real-time, femtosecond-level clock synchronization across a low-lying, strongly turbulent, 12-km horizontal air path by optical two-way time transfer. For this long horizontal free-space path, the integrated turbulence extends well into the strong turbulence regime corresponding to multiple scattering with a Rytov variance up to 7 and with the number of signal interruptions exceeding 100 per second. Nevertheless, optical two-way time transfer is used to synchronize a remote clock to a master clock with femtosecond-level agreement and with a relative time deviation dropping as low as a few hundred attoseconds. Synchronization is shown for a remote clock based on either an optical or microwave oscillator and using either tip-tilt or adaptive-optics free-space optical terminals. The performance is unaltered from optical two-way time transfer in weak turbulence across short links. These results confirm that the two-way reciprocity of the free-space time-of-flight is maintained both under strong turbulence and with the use of adaptive optics. The demonstrated robustness of optical two-way time transfer against strong turbulence and its compatibility with adaptive optics is encouraging for future femtosecond clock synchronization over very long distance ground-to-air free-space paths.
Physical Review Letters | 2017
J. Wu; S. Nishimura; G. Lorusso; Peter Möller; E. Ideguchi; P. H. Regan; G. S. Simpson; P.-A. Söderström; P. M. Walker; Hiroshi Watanabe; Z. Y. Xu; H. Baba; F. Browne; R. Daido; P. Doornenbal; Y. F. Fang; G. Gey; T. Isobe; P. Lee; J. J. Liu; Z. Li; Z. Korkulu; Z. Patel; V. H. Phong; S. Rice; H. Sakurai; Laura C. Sinclair; T. Sumikama; M. Tanaka; A. Yagi
The β-decay half-lives of 94 neutron-rich nuclei ^{144-151}Cs, ^{146-154}Ba, ^{148-156}La, ^{150-158}Ce, ^{153-160}Pr, ^{156-162}Nd, ^{159-163}Pm, ^{160-166}Sm, ^{161-168}Eu, ^{165-170}Gd, ^{166-172}Tb, ^{169-173}Dy, ^{172-175}Ho, and two isomeric states ^{174m}Er, ^{172m}Dy were measured at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory, providing a new experimental basis to test theoretical models. Strikingly large drops of β-decay half-lives are observed at neutron-number N=97 for _{58}Ce, _{59}Pr, _{60}Nd, and _{62}Sm, and N=105 for _{63}Eu, _{64}Gd, _{65}Tb, and _{66}Dy. Features in the data mirror the interplay between pairing effects and microscopic structure. r-process network calculations performed for a range of mass models and astrophysical conditions show that the 57 half-lives measured for the first time play an important role in shaping the abundance pattern of rare-earth elements in the solar system.