Sho Okubo

Ultra-broadband dual-comb spectroscopy across 1.0–1.9 µm

We have carried out dual-comb spectroscopy and observed in a simultaneous acquisition a 140-THz-wide spectrum from 1.0 to 1.9 µm using two fiber-based frequency combs phase-locked to each other. This ultrabroad-wavelength bandwidth is realized by setting the difference between the repetition rates of the two combs to 7.6 Hz using the sub-Hz-linewidth fiber combs. The recorded spectrum contains five vibration-rotation bands of C2H2, CH4, and H2O at different wavelengths across the whole spectrum. The determined transition frequencies of C2H2 agree with those from the previous sub-Doppler resolution measurement of individual lines using CW lasers within 2 MHz.

Absolute frequency list of the ν 3 -band transitions of methane at a relative uncertainty level of 10 −11

We determine the absolute frequencies of 56 rotation-vibration transitions of the ν(3) band of CH(4) from 88.2 to 90.5 THz with a typical uncertainty of 2 kHz corresponding to a relative uncertainty of 2.2 × 10(-11) over an average time of a few hundred seconds. Saturated absorption lines are observed using a difference-frequency-generation source and a cavity-enhanced absorption cell, and the transition frequencies are measured with a fiber-laser-based optical frequency comb referenced to a rubidium atomic clock linked to the international atomic time. The determined value of the P(7) F(2)((2)) line is consistent with the International Committee for Weights and Measures recommendation within the uncertainty.

Spectroscopy of 171Yb in an optical lattice based on laser linewidth transfer using a narrow linewidth frequency comb.

We propose a novel, high-performance, and practical laser source system for optical clocks. The laser linewidth of a fiber-based frequency comb is reduced by phase locking a comb mode to an ultrastable master laser at 1064 nm with a broad servo bandwidth. A slave laser at 578 nm is successively phase locked to a comb mode at 578 nm with a broad servo bandwidth without any pre-stabilization. Laser frequency characteristics such as spectral linewidth and frequency stability are transferred to the 578-nm slave laser from the 1064-nm master laser. Using the slave laser, we have succeeded in observing the clock transition of (171)Yb atoms confined in an optical lattice with a 20-Hz spectral linewidth.

Generation of a frequency comb spanning more than 3.6 octaves from ultraviolet to mid infrared

We have observed an ultra-broadband frequency comb with a wavelength range of at least 0.35 to 4.4 μm in a ridge-waveguide-type periodically poled lithium niobate device. The PPLN waveguide is pumped by a 1.0-2.4 μm wide frequency comb with an average power of 120 mW generated using an erbium-based mode-locked fiber laser and a following highly nonlinear fiber. The coherence of the extended comb is confirmed in both the visible (around 633 nm) and the mid-infrared regions.

Near-infrared broadband dual-frequency-comb spectroscopy with a resolution beyond the Fourier limit determined by the observation time window

We performed broadband dual-frequency-comb spectroscopy in the near-infrared region with a much higher resolution than the Fourier limit by using discrete Fourier transforms and spectral interleaving. We observed the resonant spectrum of a Fabry-Perot cavity over a spectral range of 187 to 218 THz using this technique, and measured its free spectral ranges and finesses. The recorded spectrum includes cavity resonance lines with widths of about 2 MHz, which is much narrower than the resolution of 48 MHz determined by the observation time window.

Design of cavity-enhanced absorption cell for reducing transit-time broadening

To reduce the linewidth of Lamb dips, we introduce a cavity-enhanced absorption cell (CEAC) coupled with a Gaussian beam with a 1.9-mm 1/e(2) radius at the beam waist for the reduction of transit-time broadening. We state that transit-time broadening depends only on the beam radius at the beam waist. This fact is useful for the design of the CEAC, and a pair of concave and convex mirrors is thereby employed. We have carried out sub-Doppler resolution spectroscopy of the ν(3) band of CH(4) and the ν(1) band of CH(3)D using a difference-frequency-generation source and the CEAC, and the recorded Lamb dips narrow to 80 kHz (HWHM).

A novel frequency control scheme for comb-referenced sensitive difference-frequency-generation spectroscopy

We present a novel scheme of frequency scan and wavelength modulation of a difference-frequency-generation source for comb-referenced sensitive spectroscopy. While the pump and signal frequencies are phase-locked to an optical frequency comb (OFC), the offset frequency between the signal wave and the nearest comb tooth is modulated to apply a wavelength-modulation technique, and the idler wave frequency is repeatedly swept for signal accumulation by changing the repetition frequency of the OFC. The spectrometer is applied to absolute frequency measurement of weak hyperfine-resolved rovibration transitions of the ν(1) band of CH(3)I, and the uncertainty in frequency determination is reduced by one order of magnitude in compared with that of the previous work published in Optics Express 20, 9178-9186 (2012).

Compact iodine-stabilized laser operating at 531 nm with stability at the 10(-12) level and using a coin-sized laser module.

We demonstrate a compact iodine-stabilized laser operating at 531 nm using a coin-sized light source consisting of a 1062-nm distributed-feedback diode laser and a frequency-doubling element. A hyperfine transition of molecular iodine is observed using the light source with saturated absorption spectroscopy. The light source is frequency stabilized to the observed iodine transition and achieves frequency stability at the 10(-12) level. The absolute frequency of the compact laser stabilized to the a(1) hyperfine component of the R(36)32 - 0 transition is determined as 564074632419(8) kHz with a relative uncertainty of 1.4×10(-11). The iodine-stabilized laser can be used for various applications including interferometric measurements.

Improved Frequency Measurement of the 1 S 0 - 3 P 0 Clock Transition in 87 Sr Using a Cs Fountain Clock as a Transfer Oscillator

We performed an absolute frequency measurement of the 1S0–3P0 transition in 87Sr with a fractional uncertainty of 1.2 × 10−15, which is less than one-third that of our previous measurement. A caesium fountain atomic clock was used as a transfer oscillator to reduce the uncertainty of the link between a strontium optical lattice clock and the SI second. The absolute value of the transition frequency is 429 228 004 229 873.56(49) Hz.We performed an absolute frequency measurement of the 1S0–3P0 transition in 87Sr with a fractional uncertainty of 1.2 × 10−15, which is less than one-third that of our previous measurement. A caesium fountain atomic clock was used as a transfer oscillator to reduce the uncertainty of the link between a strontium optical lattice clock and the SI second. The absolute value of the transition frequency is 429 228 004 229 873.56(49) Hz.

Sub-Doppler resolution mid-infrared spectroscopy using a difference-frequency-generation source spectrally narrowed by laser linewidth transfer.

The spectral linewidth of a 3.28 μm difference-frequency-generation source has been reduced to 3.5 kHz using a laser linewidth transfer technique [Opt. Express21, 7891 (2013)]. We use an optical frequency comb with a broad servo bandwidth to transfer a narrow linewidth of a pump laser, a 1.06 μm Nd:YAG laser, to a signal laser, a 1.57 μm external-cavity laser diode. This source enables us to record the Lamb dip of the ν3 band R(2) E transition of methane with a molecular spectral linewidth of 21 kHz while the frequency axis is absolutely calibrated.