• Corpus ID: 248506155

The Time Programmable Frequency Comb: Generation and Application to Quantum-Limited Dual-Comb Ranging

@inproceedings{Caldwell2022TheTP,
  title={The Time Programmable Frequency Comb: Generation and Application to Quantum-Limited Dual-Comb Ranging},
  author={Emily D. Caldwell and Laura C. Sinclair and Nathan R. Newbury and Jean-Daniel Desch{\^e}nes},
  year={2022}
}

• Emily D. Caldwell, L. Sinclair, +1 author J. Deschênes
• Published 2 May 2022
• Physics

The classic self-referenced frequency comb acts as an unrivaled ruler for precision optical metrology in both time and frequency 1,2 . Two decades after its invention, the frequency comb is now used in numerous active sensing applications 3–5 . Many of these applications, however, are limited by the tradeoffs inherent in the rigidity of the comb output and operate far from quantum-limited sensitivity. Here we demonstrate an agile programmable frequency comb where the pulse time and phase are digitally controlled with ±2 attosecond accuracy. This agility enables quantum-limited sensitivity in sensing applications since the programmable comb can be configured to coherently track weak returning pulse trains at the shot-noise limit. To highlight its capabilities, we use this programmable comb in a ranging system, reducing the detection threshold by ~5,000-fold to enable nearly quantum-limited ranging at mean pulse photon number of 1/77 while retaining the full accuracy and precision of a rigid frequency comb. Beyond ranging and imaging 6–12 , applications in time/frequency metrology 1,2,5,13–18 , comb-based spectroscopy 19–27 , pump-probe experiments 28 , and compressive sensing 29,30 should benefit from coherent control of the comb-pulse time and phase. As combs their uses functioning as ,