Abstract
We propose a novel flat optical frequency comb generation system that employs fiber loop modulation and experimentally demonstrate its operation. Generally, when an external laser beam is injected into a fiber loop system including an optical modulator and an amplifying medium, multiple sidebands are generated exponentially. On the other hand, the fiber loop starts mode-locked oscillation at a center frequency to maximize the round-trip gain in the fiber loop from the seeds of the injected laser sidebands. By locking the sidebands from fiber loop modulation with the mode-locked oscillation in the fiber loop, the synchronous spectrum between the mode-locked oscillation and the sidebands can be shaped into a flat spectrum. Thus, a flat optical frequency comb with a flatness of about ±1 dB is obtained in the spectral bandwidth of about 1 THz.
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Hirano, M., Morimoto, A. Generation of flat optical frequency comb by fiber loop modulation. OPT REV 18, 13–18 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10043-011-0009-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10043-011-0009-z