AbstractsPhysics

Optical frequencycomb generation in optical fibres

by Marina Zajnulina




Institution: Universität Potsdam
Department:
Year: 2016
Posted: 02/05/2017
Record ID: 2111279
Full text PDF: https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/frontdoor/index/index/docId/8877


Abstract

Optical frequency combs (OFC) constitute an array of phase-correlated equidistant spectral lines with nearly equal intensities over a broad spectral range. The adaptations of combs generated in mode-locked lasers proved to be highly efficient for the calibration of high-resolution (resolving power > 50000) astronomical spectrographs. The observation of different galaxy structures or the studies of the Milky Way are done using instruments in the low- and medium resolution range. To such instruments belong, for instance, the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) being developed for the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) being in development for the ESO VISTA 4.1 m Telescope. The existing adaptations of OFC from mode-locked lasers are not resolvable by these instruments. Within this work, a fibre-based approach for generation of OFC specifically in the low- and medium resolution range is studied numerically. This approach consists of three optical fibres that are fed by two equally intense continuous-wave (CW) lasers. The first fibre is a conventional single-mode fibre, the second one is a suitably pumped amplifying Erbium-doped fibre with anomalous dispersion, and the third one is a low-dispersion highly nonlinear optical fibre. The evolution of a frequency comb in this system is governed by the following processes: as the two initial CW-laser waves with different frequencies propagate through the first fibre, they generate an initial comb via a cascade of four-wave mixing processes. The frequency components of the comb are phase-correlated with the original laser lines and have a frequency spacing that is equal to the initial laser frequency separation (LFS), i.e. the difference in the laser frequencies. In the time domain, a train of pre-compressed pulses with widths of a few pico-seconds arises out of the initial bichromatic deeply-modulated cosine-wave. These pulses undergo strong compression in the subsequent amplifying Erbium-doped fibre: sub-100 fs pulses with broad OFC spectra are formed. In the following low-dispersion highly nonlinear fibre, the OFC experience a further broadening and the intensity of the comb lines are fairly equalised. This approach was mathematically modelled by means of a Generalised Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation (GNLS) that contains terms describing the nonlinear optical Kerr effect, the delayed Raman response, the pulse self-steepening, and the linear optical losses as well as the wavelength-dependent Erbium gain profile for the second fibre. The initial condition equation being a deeply-modulated cosine-wave mimics the radiation of the two initial CW lasers. The numerical studies are performed with the help of Matlab scripts that were specifically developed for the integration of the GNLS and the initial condition according to the proposed approach for the OFC generation. The scripts are based on the Fourth-Order Runge-Kutta in the Interaction Picture Method (RK4IP) in combination with… Advisors/Committee Members: Roth, Martin M. (advisor).