Precision Length Metrology using the Optical Comb of Femtosecond Pulse Lasers

펨토초 레이저의 주파수 모드를 이용한 정밀 길이 측정

In precision length measurements using optical interferometry based on homodyne or heterodyne principles, it is crucial to have frequency-stabilized monochromatic light sources. To the end, we investigate the possibility of utilizing the optical comb constituted by ultrashort femtosecond pulse lasers generated from a gain medium of titanium-doped aluminium oxide $(Ti:Al_2O_3)$. The optical comb is stabilized by locking to the caesium atomic clock, which allows all the modes of the comb to maintain an extremely high level of frequency stabilization to precision of one part in $10^{16}$. Then, high precision length measurements are realized by extracting a single or group of particularly wanted optical frequency components or by adopting a third-party light source locked to the comb. Required measurement system setup will be presented in detail along with experimental results.