Ultra-low noise spectral broadening of two combs in a single ANDi fiber

Developing high-brightness, low-noise supercontinuum (SC) sources is critical for a variety of ultrafast photonics applications. A key challenge in achieving low-noise operation is the suppression of incoherent nonlinear effects and the associated noise amplification. All-normal dispersion (ANDi) SC...

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Main Authors: Sandro L. Camenzind, Benoît Sierro, Benjamin Willenberg, Alexander Nussbaum-Lapping, Anupamaa Rampur, Ursula Keller, Alexander M. Heidt, Christopher R. Phillips
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2025-03-01
Series:APL Photonics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0251190
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author Sandro L. Camenzind
Benoît Sierro
Benjamin Willenberg
Alexander Nussbaum-Lapping
Anupamaa Rampur
Ursula Keller
Alexander M. Heidt
Christopher R. Phillips
author_facet Sandro L. Camenzind
Benoît Sierro
Benjamin Willenberg
Alexander Nussbaum-Lapping
Anupamaa Rampur
Ursula Keller
Alexander M. Heidt
Christopher R. Phillips
author_sort Sandro L. Camenzind
collection DOAJ
description Developing high-brightness, low-noise supercontinuum (SC) sources is critical for a variety of ultrafast photonics applications. A key challenge in achieving low-noise operation is the suppression of incoherent nonlinear effects and the associated noise amplification. All-normal dispersion (ANDi) SC sources exhibit considerably reduced noise levels compared to conventional soliton-based methods, but their previous lowest-noise demonstrations were limited by amplified spontaneous emission from amplified femtosecond pump laser systems, which seeds incoherent nonlinearities and degrades SC quality. Consequently, the ultimate low-noise limits of coherent SC generation have not been demonstrated by experimental results. Here, we report ultra-low noise, shot-noise-limited SC generation by directly driving the SC process with the un-amplified output of a high-power dual-comb Yb:CALGO oscillator centered at 1053 nm. The resulting SC combs each have a spectrum spanning 820–1280 nm (−20 dB), 1.6 W average power, 1.03 GHz repetition rate, and a comb-line power of ≈10 μW. We conduct detailed noise studies of the SC by analyzing various ≈15-nm-wide spectral bands. All bands reach a shot-noise-limited relative intensity noise below −160 dBc/Hz at 100-kHz to few-MHz noise frequencies. Furthermore, the central spectral bands exhibit an unprecedented noise suppression of the pump laser’s technical noise above ≈2 kHz by >20 dB, which agrees with our semiclassical simulations. Finally, we simultaneously couple both combs into a single ANDi fiber to generate a dual-comb SC with highly symmetric spectra and correlated noise properties between the combs. Coherently averaged linear optical sampling measurements on the dual-comb SC exhibit a high signal-to-noise ratio, showcasing its potential for real-time spectroscopic measurements.
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spelling doaj-art-57b35bf8e4bf4e4a8b36e3d8e756a1892025-08-20T03:06:18ZengAIP Publishing LLCAPL Photonics2378-09672025-03-01103036119036119-1010.1063/5.0251190Ultra-low noise spectral broadening of two combs in a single ANDi fiberSandro L. Camenzind0Benoît Sierro1Benjamin Willenberg2Alexander Nussbaum-Lapping3Anupamaa Rampur4Ursula Keller5Alexander M. Heidt6Christopher R. Phillips7Department of Physics, Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Applied Physics, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment of Physics, Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Physics, Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Applied Physics, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment of Physics, Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Applied Physics, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment of Physics, Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, SwitzerlandDeveloping high-brightness, low-noise supercontinuum (SC) sources is critical for a variety of ultrafast photonics applications. A key challenge in achieving low-noise operation is the suppression of incoherent nonlinear effects and the associated noise amplification. All-normal dispersion (ANDi) SC sources exhibit considerably reduced noise levels compared to conventional soliton-based methods, but their previous lowest-noise demonstrations were limited by amplified spontaneous emission from amplified femtosecond pump laser systems, which seeds incoherent nonlinearities and degrades SC quality. Consequently, the ultimate low-noise limits of coherent SC generation have not been demonstrated by experimental results. Here, we report ultra-low noise, shot-noise-limited SC generation by directly driving the SC process with the un-amplified output of a high-power dual-comb Yb:CALGO oscillator centered at 1053 nm. The resulting SC combs each have a spectrum spanning 820–1280 nm (−20 dB), 1.6 W average power, 1.03 GHz repetition rate, and a comb-line power of ≈10 μW. We conduct detailed noise studies of the SC by analyzing various ≈15-nm-wide spectral bands. All bands reach a shot-noise-limited relative intensity noise below −160 dBc/Hz at 100-kHz to few-MHz noise frequencies. Furthermore, the central spectral bands exhibit an unprecedented noise suppression of the pump laser’s technical noise above ≈2 kHz by >20 dB, which agrees with our semiclassical simulations. Finally, we simultaneously couple both combs into a single ANDi fiber to generate a dual-comb SC with highly symmetric spectra and correlated noise properties between the combs. Coherently averaged linear optical sampling measurements on the dual-comb SC exhibit a high signal-to-noise ratio, showcasing its potential for real-time spectroscopic measurements.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0251190
spellingShingle Sandro L. Camenzind
Benoît Sierro
Benjamin Willenberg
Alexander Nussbaum-Lapping
Anupamaa Rampur
Ursula Keller
Alexander M. Heidt
Christopher R. Phillips
Ultra-low noise spectral broadening of two combs in a single ANDi fiber
APL Photonics
title Ultra-low noise spectral broadening of two combs in a single ANDi fiber
title_full Ultra-low noise spectral broadening of two combs in a single ANDi fiber
title_fullStr Ultra-low noise spectral broadening of two combs in a single ANDi fiber
title_full_unstemmed Ultra-low noise spectral broadening of two combs in a single ANDi fiber
title_short Ultra-low noise spectral broadening of two combs in a single ANDi fiber
title_sort ultra low noise spectral broadening of two combs in a single andi fiber
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0251190
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