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Retrieval of phase relation and emission profile of quantum cascade laser frequency combs

Nature Photonics volume 13, pages 562–568 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Recently, the field of optical frequency combs experienced a major development of new sources. They are generally much smaller in size (on the scale of millimetres) and can extend frequency comb emission to other spectral regions, in particular towards the mid- and far-infrared regions. Unlike classical pulsed frequency combs, their mode-locking mechanism relies on four-wave-mixing nonlinear processes, yielding a non-trivial phase relation among the modes and an uncommon emission time profile. Here, by combining dual-comb multi-heterodyne detection with Fourier-transform analysis, we show how to simultaneously acquire and monitor over a wide range of timescales the phase pattern of a generic (unknown) frequency comb. The technique is applied to characterize both a mid-infrared and a terahertz quantum cascade laser frequency comb, conclusively proving the high degree of coherence and the remarkable long-term stability of these sources. Moreover, the technique allows also the reconstruction of the electric field, intensity profile and instantaneous frequency of the emission.

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Fig. 1: Experimental set-up.
Fig. 2: Femtosecond-pulsed FC phase relation.
Fig. 3: FFT amplitude spectrum of the RF-FC related to the THz QCL comb.
Fig. 4: Phases of the BNs related to the QCL combs computed by the FFT routine.
Fig. 5: THz QCL comb emission.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from the Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca (project PRIN-2015KEZNYM NEMO), the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Laserlab-Europe Project, grant no. 654148; CHIC Project, ERC grant no. 724344; ULTRAQCL Project, FET Open grant no 665158; Qombs Project, FET Flagship on Quantum Technologies grant no. 820419), the Italian ESFRI Roadmap (‘Extreme Light Infrastructure’—ELI Project) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF200020-165639).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Francesco Cappelli, Luigi Consolino.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNR-INO – Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Florence, Italy

    Francesco Cappelli, Luigi Consolino, Giulio Campo, Iacopo Galli, Davide Mazzotti, Annamaria Campa, Pablo Cancio Pastor, Roberto Eramo, Paolo De Natale & Saverio Bartalini

  2. LENS – European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

    Francesco Cappelli, Luigi Consolino, Giulio Campo, Iacopo Galli, Davide Mazzotti, Annamaria Campa, Pablo Cancio Pastor, Roberto Eramo, Paolo De Natale & Saverio Bartalini

  3. ppqSense Srl, Campi Bisenzio, Italy

    Iacopo Galli, Davide Mazzotti, Pablo Cancio Pastor & Saverio Bartalini

  4. ASI – Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Contrada Terlecchia, Matera, Italy

    Mario Siciliani de Cumis

  5. Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Markus Rösch, Mattias Beck, Giacomo Scalari & Jérôme Faist

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  1. Francesco Cappelli
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Contributions

F.C. and S.B. conceived the experiment. L.C., F.C., G.C., I.G., M.S.d.C., A.C., P.C.P. and R.E. performed the measurements. F.C., G.C., R.E. and S.B. analysed the data. L.C. and F.C. wrote the manuscript. G.C., D.M., M.S.d.C., P.C.P., R.E., S.B., G.S., J.F. and P.D.N. contributed to manuscript revision. J.F., G.S., M.R. and M.B. provided the quantum cascade lasers. L.C., F.C., D.M., P.C.P., R.E., S.B., G.S., J.F. and P.D.N. discussed the results. All work was performed under the joint supervision of P.D.N. and S.B.

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Correspondence to Francesco Cappelli or Luigi Consolino.

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Cappelli, F., Consolino, L., Campo, G. et al. Retrieval of phase relation and emission profile of quantum cascade laser frequency combs. Nat. Photonics 13, 562–568 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-019-0451-1

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