Abstract

We report the use of a mode-locked laser driven electro-optic antenna (EOA) as a continuously tunable, millimeter and sub-millimeter (MM/SMM) source for high resolution spectroscopy and laser jitter noise investigations. In this application the EOA generates MM/SMM radiation by optical down-conversion of the pulse train [1, 2]. Although previous efforts have generated MM/SMM radiation from EOAs driven by heterodyned CW lasers [3] or mode-locked lasers [4-8], these past applications have produced only low resolution (typically > 100 MHz) spectra of materials. Our work focuses on the high resolution spectroscopic capabilities of mode-locked laser driven EOA sources and their noise properties. Among their most important attributes are straightforward absolute frequency calibration and very high spectral purity.

© 1996 Optical Society of America