Dual wavelength Brillouin laser terahertz source stabilized to carbonyl sulfide rotational transition

Abstract Optical-based terahertz sources are important for many burgeoning scientific and technological applications. Among such applications is precision spectroscopy of molecules, which exhibit rotational transitions at terahertz frequencies. Stemming from precision spectroscopy is frequency discr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: James Greenberg, Brendan M. Heffernan, William F. McGrew, Keisuke Nose, Antoine Rolland
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57826-2
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850039699554435072
author James Greenberg
Brendan M. Heffernan
William F. McGrew
Keisuke Nose
Antoine Rolland
author_facet James Greenberg
Brendan M. Heffernan
William F. McGrew
Keisuke Nose
Antoine Rolland
author_sort James Greenberg
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Optical-based terahertz sources are important for many burgeoning scientific and technological applications. Among such applications is precision spectroscopy of molecules, which exhibit rotational transitions at terahertz frequencies. Stemming from precision spectroscopy is frequency discrimination (a core technology in atomic clocks) and stabilization of terahertz sources. Because many molecular species exist in the gas phase at room temperature, their transitions are prime candidates for practical terahertz frequency references. We demonstrate the stabilization of a low phase-noise, dual-wavelength Brillouin laser (DWBL) terahertz oscillator to a rotational transition of carbonyl sulfide (OCS). We achieve an instability of $$1.2\times 1{0}^{-12}/\sqrt{\tau }$$ 1.2 × 1 0 − 12 / τ , where τ is the averaging time in seconds. The signal-to-noise ratio and intermodulation limitations of the experiment are also discussed. We thus demonstrate a highly stable and spectrally pure terahertz frequency source. Our presented architecture will likely benefit metrology, spectroscopy, precision terahertz studies, and beyond.
format Article
id doaj-art-fffd506aae8e4f2ea633fb2c13389049
institution DOAJ
issn 2041-1723
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Nature Communications
spelling doaj-art-fffd506aae8e4f2ea633fb2c133890492025-08-20T02:56:15ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-03-011611810.1038/s41467-025-57826-2Dual wavelength Brillouin laser terahertz source stabilized to carbonyl sulfide rotational transitionJames Greenberg0Brendan M. Heffernan1William F. McGrew2Keisuke Nose3Antoine Rolland4Boulder Research Labs, IMRA America, Inc.Boulder Research Labs, IMRA America, Inc.Boulder Research Labs, IMRA America, Inc.Boulder Research Labs, IMRA America, Inc.Boulder Research Labs, IMRA America, Inc.Abstract Optical-based terahertz sources are important for many burgeoning scientific and technological applications. Among such applications is precision spectroscopy of molecules, which exhibit rotational transitions at terahertz frequencies. Stemming from precision spectroscopy is frequency discrimination (a core technology in atomic clocks) and stabilization of terahertz sources. Because many molecular species exist in the gas phase at room temperature, their transitions are prime candidates for practical terahertz frequency references. We demonstrate the stabilization of a low phase-noise, dual-wavelength Brillouin laser (DWBL) terahertz oscillator to a rotational transition of carbonyl sulfide (OCS). We achieve an instability of $$1.2\times 1{0}^{-12}/\sqrt{\tau }$$ 1.2 × 1 0 − 12 / τ , where τ is the averaging time in seconds. The signal-to-noise ratio and intermodulation limitations of the experiment are also discussed. We thus demonstrate a highly stable and spectrally pure terahertz frequency source. Our presented architecture will likely benefit metrology, spectroscopy, precision terahertz studies, and beyond.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57826-2
spellingShingle James Greenberg
Brendan M. Heffernan
William F. McGrew
Keisuke Nose
Antoine Rolland
Dual wavelength Brillouin laser terahertz source stabilized to carbonyl sulfide rotational transition
Nature Communications
title Dual wavelength Brillouin laser terahertz source stabilized to carbonyl sulfide rotational transition
title_full Dual wavelength Brillouin laser terahertz source stabilized to carbonyl sulfide rotational transition
title_fullStr Dual wavelength Brillouin laser terahertz source stabilized to carbonyl sulfide rotational transition
title_full_unstemmed Dual wavelength Brillouin laser terahertz source stabilized to carbonyl sulfide rotational transition
title_short Dual wavelength Brillouin laser terahertz source stabilized to carbonyl sulfide rotational transition
title_sort dual wavelength brillouin laser terahertz source stabilized to carbonyl sulfide rotational transition
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57826-2
work_keys_str_mv AT jamesgreenberg dualwavelengthbrillouinlaserterahertzsourcestabilizedtocarbonylsulfiderotationaltransition
AT brendanmheffernan dualwavelengthbrillouinlaserterahertzsourcestabilizedtocarbonylsulfiderotationaltransition
AT williamfmcgrew dualwavelengthbrillouinlaserterahertzsourcestabilizedtocarbonylsulfiderotationaltransition
AT keisukenose dualwavelengthbrillouinlaserterahertzsourcestabilizedtocarbonylsulfiderotationaltransition
AT antoinerolland dualwavelengthbrillouinlaserterahertzsourcestabilizedtocarbonylsulfiderotationaltransition