The accuracy of state-of-the-art Extreme Precision Radial Velocity (EPRV) spectrographs depends on the access to extremely precise and stable wavelength calibration sources. There are several available calibration sources (e.g., emission lamps, laser frequency combs, reference cavities) that can be used to calibrate an astronomical spectrograph. However, the calibration as it is currently performed is always 'local'. In the proposed talk we will present the νANCESTOR concept that proposes an accurate (absolute) and common wavelength calibration for astronomical high-resolution, high-precision spectrographs by embarking an optical frequency comb on-board a satellite equipped with an actively pointing telescope and precision orbitography. This calibration satellite shall be available and serve EPRV spectrographs in all major observatories around the world.
Precise and accurate wavelength calibration of spectrographs is essential for key science cases, e.g. the search for extrasolar planets, a possible variation of fundamental constants and the direct observation of cosmic expansion.
A crucial tool for this are laser frequency combs (LFCs), directly linking the accuracy of atomic clocks to optical laser lines.
However, strong material dispersion and large spectral separation from the established infrared laser oscillators so far prevent the use of LFCs for spectrograph calibration in the blue and UV part of the spectrum. At OHP/SOPHIE, we demonstrated for the first time the calibration of an astronomical spectrograph using an astrocomb in the ultraviolet spectral range below 400nm. Key technology used were nano-fabricated, periodically-poled waveguides in lithium niobate photonic chips, fed by either a robust infrared electro-optic comb generator or a chip-integrated microresonator comb. In an end-to-end test, we could demonstrate stable and accurate LFC-based spectrograph calibration, showcasing a viable path towards precision wavelength calibration of spectrographs in the ultraviolet, crucial e.g. for the future ELT/ANDES.
Laser frequency combs, producing a dense grid of equidistant optical emission lines, are considered the best calibration sources for precision astronomical spectrographs. The recently commissioned Near-Infra-Red Planet Searcher (NIRPS), operating at the 3.6m telescope in La Silla, Chile, will be equipped with an astrocomb for the wavelength calibration in the 1200nm – 1850nm range. The astrocomb is based on the electro-optic modulation technology and offers tunability of the full optical spectrum.
The rubidium two-photon optical atomic clock is a promising technology for applications that require a compact yet stable timekeeping device. However, its long-term frequency stability is often limited by the light shift (or AC Stark effect). In a rubidium two-photon frequency standard, we demonstrate in experiment that the light shift of the 778.1 nm wavelength probe beam can be mitigated with another, 1556.2 nm wavelength beam.
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), with its extreme distance measurement requirements (pm over arm lengths of 2.5 million km), imposes many stringent requirements on the laser sources used for the distance metrological measurements. In particular, meeting the frequency noise, power stability and side band phase noise requirements reliably for multiple laser systems over the mission lifetime presents a considerable technical challenge. These constraints demand a robust state-of-the-art laser design and a particular attention to reliability and procurement strategy, which all pose a significant challenge. Relying on its strong metrology expertise, CSEM, Swiss Center of Electronics and Microtechnology, is, in the frame of an ESA activity, upgrading all of the metrology techniques and hardware, used to characterize a previously developed non NPRO laser system for the LISA mission. These metrology systems are the baseline for assessing the performance of LISA mission laser heads, developed by NASA. Novel metrology techniques have been developed to assess the challenging laser head specifications. The measurement of frequency stability requires combining different frequency references to cover the full frequency range spanning over more than 10 decades. The measurement of power stability requires combining several metrology approaches to cover the full frequency range and dedicated development, in collaboration with NASA, to improve the long-term measurement capability. As already demonstrated in the previous CSEM activity, sideband phase noise measurement is very sensitive to the environment and complex to perform. A dedicated and improved test setup has been implemented. After a presentation of the NASA laser head, dedicated testing philosophy approaches, encountered technical challenges and obtained test results are presented.
This paper reports on the experimental characterization by means of optical frequency-domain reflectometry of a White-type multipass gas cell used for trace gas spectroscopy. The fractional Lambertian reflections inevitably arising from the three high reflectivity mirrors of this multipass cell is precisely detected due to the high sensitivity of the reflectometer. Each bounce of light on the mirror surface generates backscattered light, which returns to the sensing system. Then, using the measured distribution of multiple back-reflections as a function of distance the position of the 3mm-thick CaF2 entrance window is clearly identified, thanks to the spatial resolution of 731μm. In addition, the physical distance between mirrors at both sides of the cavity is accurately assessed to be 40.72cm, delivering the exact optical path length of light inside the multipass cell of 30.9853m, which is an important parameter for improving the accuracy of the computation to retrieve the gas concentration from the measured light absorption spectrum.
Quantum sensing devices such as atomic clocks enable unmatched precision in various area of metrology. Initially bulky laboratory devices, it is of great interest to miniaturize them to lower their energy consumption and deploy them in many embedded and mobile systems. To allow a dramatic cost reduction and miniaturization, CSEM developed and tested with success miniature atomic clocks based on wafer-level processes. On top of the control electronics and the atomic vapor cells, the optical design, the optical components and their assembly have been fully redesigned to be wafer-level fabricated. To achieve low aspect ratio and integrated optical management, thin glass planar waveguides have been implemented allowing to transport and beam shape the interrogating beam going from and to the atomic vapor gas cell. This proved a much simpler wafer scale assembly process, a monolithic construction less prone to single component alignment issues and provide much more compact atomic clocks
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), with its extreme distance measurement requirements (pm over arm lengths of 2.5 Mio km), imposes many stringent requirements on the laser sources used for interferometry. Frequency and power stability, as well as the side band phase noise represent considerable technological challenges, that must be maintained over the full 12.5 years mission duration. These constraints demand a streamlined laser design and a particular attention to reliability and procurement strategy, which poses a significant challenge. The main requirements for the laser critical sub-system have been analyzed. The Centre Suisse d’Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM), in the frame of a European Space Agency activity, was mandated to demonstrate a laser head for the LISA mission based on an alternative laser oscillator approach that does not rely on the LISA-baseline technology (i.e. Nd:YAG NPRO laser). The activity was named MONALISA. After a presentation of the key laser head requirements, the laser head design is described. A comprehensive test campaign was performed, and test results are presented.
Mode-locked lasers, and in particular solid-state femtosecond lasers, are oscillators with a unique physics capable to exhibit extremely low-phase noise of the emitted pulse train. Here we report ultra-low phase noise microwave generation with a self-referenced, fully-stabilized mode-locked femtosecond laser. The system involves a 395-MHz repetition rate 1560nm laser which is self-referenced and whose repetition rate is locked to a cavity-stabilized continuous-wave laser. The selfreferencing is achieved with a f-3f nonlinear interferometer realized in a silicon nitride highly-nonlinear waveguide. Prior to optical-to-electrical conversion for X-band microwave generation, the 395-MHz repetition rate of the mode-locked laser pulse train is multiplied in a fiber interleaver to 3.16 GHz. A high-power handling photodiode converts the optical pulse train to an electrical frequency comb with 3.16 GHz frequency spacing. Finally, the 9.5-GHz harmonics is bandpassfiltered and phase noise measurements have shown a record-low phase noise floor of -175 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency.
This contribution summarizes the status of our current development of a novel, high-power and high-linearity photodiode. This photodiode is specifically designed to operate over an exceptionally wide optical input power range from below - 10 dBm up to + 20 dBm without relying on self-biasing effects, making it a versatile solution in many potential analog optical RF applications. The backside illuminated photodiode offers a large active diameter, which enables high coupling efficiency, allows optimization of the optical launch conditions to improve the optical saturation current and linearity as well as to improve the thermal power dissipation, which is required for high power operation. The high-power photodiodes, flip-chip-bonded to their heat-dissipation carriers, have been integrated in a hermetically sealed, rugged package with built-in matching circuit and bias-T. The thermal design and the opto-electrical characterization such as bandwidth and linearity will be presented. Preliminary gamma and proton irradiation testing, have been performed with promising results.
A compact broadband atmospheric gas spectrometer has been developed in the framework of the EU-H2020 FLAIR project. The system is composed of a mid-IR 2-4um broadband supercontinuum source, a temperature controlled 10- meter-long multipass-cell for light-gas interaction, a diffraction grating, and an uncooled PbSe-on-CMOS matrix detector recording absorption spectra. The detection limit has been measured at sub-ppm level on methane under laboratory conditions. We also present 2 successful field measurement campaigns aboard airborne platforms: a hot-air airship for controlled methane release experiments, and a helicopter tracking ship exhaust fumes abroad the coastline of Denmark, with special emphasis on methane detection.
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), with its extreme distance measurement requirements (pm over arm lengths of 2.5 million km), imposes many stringent requirements on the laser systems used for the distance metrological measurements. In particular, frequency and power stability, sideband phase noise, and frequency reproducibility, the need of manufacturing multiple laser systems and extremely challenging lifetime (extended mission duration of 12.5 years) which demand a streamlined laser design and a particular attention to reliability and procurement strategy, all pose a significant challenge. The main requirements will be presented and analysed. Some preliminary strategies as it pertains to procurement and lot screening shall also be approached.
The current configuration and break-down of the future on-board laser systems shall be provided detailing in particular the critical interfaces.
Existing space heritage hardware (such as the LISA Pathfinder Master Oscillator) and new specialized developments are under study in both Europe and the US. European industry is developing custom Power Amplifiers to reach the end-of-life requirement of 2W (in Continuous Wave operation). In parallel alterative possible sources for a back-up Master Oscillator are also being investigated, based on off the shelf components and proprietary technologies. An overview of the development strategy shall be presented as well as some details on the specific hardware.
Optical frequency combs are a key technology for optical precision measurements. So far, most frequency combs operate in the near-infrared regime (NIR). Many applications, however, require combs in the ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS) or mid-infrared (MIR) spectral ranges. This can be achieved by making use of nonlinear-optical processes. In this contribution, we demonstrate the efficient conversion of frequency combs with a repetition rate of 21 GHz to UV, VIS and MIR wavelengths in a synchronously driven high-Q microresonator with second-order optical nonlinearity. This opens up a new path for applications including, but not limited to, molecular sensing and quantum optics.
Temporal dissipative solitons in continuous-wave (CW) laser-driven Kerr-nonlinear microresonators have led to the generation of highly-coherent optical frequency combs and ultra-short optical pulses with repetition rates in excess of 10 GHz. Applications of such sources include optical telecommunication, microwave signal generation and optical spectroscopy. Here, a novel nonlinear optical Fabry-Perot microresonator is synchronously driven by picosecond laser pulses (instead of a CW laser) resulting in the formation of temporal dissipative solitons at 10 GHz repetition rate. As opposed to the conventional CW-driven case, single or multiple solitons form deterministically ‘on-top’ of the resonantly enhanced driving pulses, which significantly increases conversion efficiency. The solitons lock to the driving pulse, which enables stable operation and coherent actuation of the solitons’ repetition rate and carrier-envelope offset frequency. The Fabry-Perot microresonator with 10 GHz free-spectral range is based on a short length of standard optical fiber whose end-facets are coated with dielectric Bragg mirrors. Mounted inside a fiber-optical ferrule, the resonator can be interfaced directly with other fiber optical components. While being equivalent to whispering-gallery mode and ring-type resonators regarding nonlinear optical phenomena, the Fabry-Perot microresonator allows for straightforward design of group velocity dispersion, coupling ratio and nonlinearity via choice of fiber and dielectric mirrors. In summary, the presented results links the fields of CW driven microresonators, synchronously driven optical parametric oscillators as well as pulsebased non-resonant supercontinuum generation. Amongst others, they open new perspectives for microresonator-based frequency combs generation and for nonlinear photonics driven by temporally and spectrally structured light.
Observatoire de Neuchâtel (ON) is developing a compact optically-pumped cesium beam frequency standard in the frame of an ESA-ARTES 5 project. The simplest optical scheme, which is based on a single optical frequency for both preparation and detection processes of atoms, has been chosen to fulfill reliability constraints of space applications. With our laboratory demonstrator operated at 852 nm (D2 line), we have measured a frequency stability of σy=2.74x10-12 τ -1/2, which is compliant with the Galileo requirement. The atomic resonator is fully compliant to be operated with a single diode laser at 894 nm (D1 line). Sensitivity measurements of the clock signal to the microwave power and to the optical pumping power are also presented. Present performance limitations are discussed and further improvements are proposed in order to reach our ultimate frequency stability goal of σy=1x10-12 τ -1/2. The clock driving software is also briefly described.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.