Expand this Topic clickable element to expand a topic
Skip to content
Optica Publishing Group

10 kHz linewidth mid-infrared quantum cascade laser by stabilization to an optical delay line

Not Accessible

Your library or personal account may give you access

Abstract

We present a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser (QCL) with a sub-10 kHz full width at half-maximum linewidth (at 1 s integration time) achieved by stabilization to a free-space optical delay line. The linear range in the center of a fringe detected at the output of an imbalanced Mach–Zehnder interferometer implemented with a short free-space pathlength difference of only 1 m is used as a frequency discriminator to detect the frequency fluctuations of the QCL. Feedback is applied to the QCL current to lock the laser frequency to the delay line. The application of this method in the mid-infrared is reported for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. By implementing it in a simple self-homodyne configuration, we have been able to reduce the frequency noise power spectral density of the QCL by almost 40 dB below 10 kHz Fourier frequency, leading to a linewidth reduction by a factor of almost 60 compared to the free-running laser. The present limits of the setup are assessed and discussed.

© 2019 Optical Society of America

Full Article  |  PDF Article
More Like This
Active linewidth-narrowing of a mid-infrared quantum cascade laser without optical reference

L. Tombez, S. Schilt, D. Hofstetter, and T. Südmeyer
Opt. Lett. 38(23) 5079-5082 (2013)

Quantum cascade laser-based mid-IR frequency metrology system with ultra-narrow linewidth and 1  ×  10−13-level frequency instability

Michael G. Hansen, Evangelos Magoulakis, Qun-Feng Chen, Ingo Ernsting, and Stephan Schiller
Opt. Lett. 40(10) 2289-2292 (2015)

Kilohertz linewidth from frequency-stabilized mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers

Richard M. Williams, James F. Kelly, John S. Hartman, Steven W. Sharpe, Matthew S. Taubman, John L. Hall, Federico Capasso, Claire Gmachl, Deborah L. Sivco, James N. Baillargeon, and Alfred Y. Cho
Opt. Lett. 24(24) 1844-1846 (1999)

Cited By

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Cited by links are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Figures (5)

You do not have subscription access to this journal. Figure files are available to subscribers only. You may subscribe either as an Optica member, or as an authorized user of your institution.

Contact your librarian or system administrator
or
Login to access Optica Member Subscription

Select as filters


Select Topics Cancel
© Copyright 2024 | Optica Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved