10-GHz Self-Referenced Optical Frequency Comb
Albrecht Bartels,1,*
Dirk Heinecke,1,2
Scott A. Diddams2,*
The femtosecond laser–based frequency comb has played
a key role in high-precision optical frequency metrology for
a decade. Although often referred to as a precise optical frequency
ruler, its tick marks are in fact too densely spaced for direct
observation and individual use, limiting important applications
in spectroscopy, astronomy, and ultrafast electromagnetic waveform
control. We report on a femtosecond laser frequency comb with
a 10-gigahertz repetition rate that creates a stabilized output
spectrum with coverage from 470 to 1130 nanometers. The individual
modes can be directly resolved with a grating spectrometer and
are visible by eye.
2 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 325 Broadway Mail Stop 847, Boulder, CO 80305, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: albrecht.bartels{at}uni-konstanz.de (A.B.); scott.diddams{at}nist.gov (S.A.D.)
