Optical frequency measurements using fs-comb generators

Author

Schnatz, Harald ; Lipphardt, Burghard ; Degenhardt, Carsten ; Peik, Ekkehard ; Schneider, Tobias ; Sterr, Uwe ; Tamm, Christian

Author_Institution

Phys. Tech. Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, Germany

Volume

54

Issue

2

fYear

2005

fDate

4/1/2005 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

750

Lastpage

753

Abstract

We have used a Ti:Sapphire-based fs-comb generator to measure the frequencies of several optical frequency standards available at PTB. The frequency values for HeNe- and frequency-doubled Nd:Yag lasers stabilized to iodine hyperfine transitions as well as the frequencies of the ¹S₀-³P₁ transition of ⁴⁰Ca at 657.5 nm (456 THz) and the ²S₁2/-²D₃2/ transition of ¹⁷¹Yb⁺ at 435.5 nm (688 THz) are presented. Comparing our results with previously published data for the frequency variation of transitions of the Hg⁺ ion and H atom, we have derived a new upper limit of the variation of the fine structure constant α.

Keywords

calcium; frequency measurement; frequency standards; high-speed optical techniques; hydrogen; mercury (metal); optical variables measurement; sapphire; solid lasers; titanium; ytterbium; yttrium compounds; 435.5 nm; 456 THz; 657.5 nm; 688 THz; Ca; HeNe; Hg; Nd:YAG; Nd:YAl5O12; PTB; Ti:Al₂O₃; Yb; comb generators; femtosecond lasers; frequency variation; iodine hyperfine transitions; optical frequency comb; optical frequency measurement; optical frequency measurements; optical frequency standards; stabilized lasers; Atom optics; Clocks; Frequency measurement; Laser stability; Laser transitions; Masers; Measurement standards; Optical harmonic generation; Optical scattering; Particle beam optics; Femtosecond (fs) lasers; optical frequency comb; optical frequency measurement; stabilized lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TIM.2004.843417

Filename

1408280