Abstract
We report an experimental investigation on remote transfer of a femtosecond-laser
frequency comb through an open atmospheric link. Optical multiheterodyne is
used to measure the excess phase noise and the frequency stability of the
transferred comb. The dispersion of air is found to have a minimal impact
on the multiheterodyne signal, and the effectiveness of the technique to characterize
the behaviors of comb lines under the influence of turbulence is theoretically
analyzed. Large phase modulation due to the index fluctuation of the air over
a 60-m transmission link is found to cause a significant linewidth broadening.
Under low-wind conditions, a fractional frequency stability in the order of 10<sup>-14</sup> has been
achieved over several minutes with a 1-s averaging time. A comparison of this
work with previous tests based on continuous wave (CW) lasers indicates that
pulsed lasers can work as well as CW lasers for remote transfer of optical
frequency references through the atmosphere.
© 2011 IEEE
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