Abstract

Fiber frequency combs show a high potential for field measurements [1] and space applications such as for distance measurements and stability transfer of optical atomic clocks from the optical to the radio frequency regime. In particular, semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) mode-locked frequency comb oscillators benefit from a robust and compact design due to their all-in-fiber setup. To guarantee a high stable operation the comb’s repetition rate (f_rep) and offset frequency (f_O) have to be controlled precisely. In recent comb setups f_rep is stabilized via a piezo fiber stretcher or a piezo crystal mounted mirror and f_O is controlled via the pump power. Here, an EOM and the oscillator’s pump power are used whether to stabilize f_rep or f_O, respectively. An intra-cavity EOM has no moving parts, a very high bandwidth (up to the MHz regime) and is driven by low voltages, which makes it a perfect transducer for the stabilization of noisy SESAM mode-locked comb oscillators. The presented all-in-fiber polarization-maintaining oscillator (Toptica) is described in [2].

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