1

Measurement of the frequency

linewidth of single-mode lasers
by means of a quadrature signal
interferometer
Th. Kinder, Th. Mller-Wirts: TEM Messtechnik GmbH, Hannover
K.-D. Salewski, J.-U. Gnther: University of Greifswald
2
What is (spectral) laser linewidth?
Laser
- Meter

Spectral density

laser linewidth
3
Why is there a laser linewidth?
[ ]
W
HWB HWB
HWB
HWB
t j t j
L
c
t
E E
E
f f f
j
E
dt e E dt e t E f

1 1
2
4
2
1
) ( 4
) ( ) ( ) (
) ( 2
) ( ) (
2
2 2
2
0
2
2
0
2
0
2 2
2
0 *
2
0 0 0
0 ) ( 2
0
2
0
= =
=

+
=

+
= =
+
= = =


+
bzw.
reite Halbwertsb der Bestimmung
Profil Lorentz
Classical model: The oscillations of an atomic dipole decay due to the emission of radiation.
As a result, the emitted wave is of finite length.
E
0
2

0

f ( )
2
Fourier Transform: After a Fourier transform, we find a spectral density function with
finite width, centered about the eigen frequency of the dipole
0
.
decay time:

c
t c l t e e E t E
W
t j t
= = = =

1
) (
0
2
0
length of the wave:
Determination of the spectral width
4
Linewidth measured with FPI
Laser
optical frequency
photo current I
photo detector
Fabry Perot interferometer

I
Advantage:
direct signal detection
Disadvantage:
measurement only at distinct center frequencies
no measurement while tuning the laser
5
Linewidth measured by beat
Often cited statemant of Dirac:
Each photon ... interferes only with itself. Interference between different photons
never occurs.
6
Linewidth measured by beat
Advantage:
fast signal detection
Disadvantage:
2 lasers required
no measurement while tuning the laser
suppression of disturbations that affect both
lasers synchronously
Often cited statemant of Dirac:
Each photon ... interferes only with itself. Interference between different photons
never occurs.
7
Interferometric linewidth measurement
Interferometer Signal:
opt. frequency, D geometric path difference,
n refractive index, c
0
speed of light in vacuum
I = I
o
(1 + cos ) with
0
0
4

+ =
c
D n
Albert A. Michelson
(1852-1931)
Quelle: http://www.sil.si.edu
Lichtquelle
Detektor
D
Principle of operation:
8
Interferometric linewidth measurement
opt. frequency, D geometric path difference,
n refractive index, c
0
speed of light in vacuum
I = I
o
(1 + cos ) with
0
0
4

+ =
c
D n
Albert A. Michelson
(1852-1931)
source: http://www.sil.si.edu
constant and known:
nD = c
0
/ 4
= c
0
/ 4 nD
Incremental laser interferometer
D, constant and known:
Michelson-Morley-Experiment
c
0
= 4 nD /
D constant and known:
Measurement of Laser frequency change
Source: http://utf.mff.cuni.cz/Relativity
=0 !
9
Optical phase quadrature
Generation of a pair of
S
y
= S
y0
sin
and
S
x
= S
x0
cos
l
Laser Wavelength
Quadrature Signals
10
Interpretation of quadrature signals
1)
2)
3)
1) regular laser frequency scan
2) a mode hop occurs
3) a multi-mode state occurs
11
Interferometer set-up (1)
12
iScan
TEM Messtechnik GmbH
CoSy
Thomas Kinder
Thomas Mller-Wirts
Klaus-Dieter Salewski
Faserinterferometer
Linienbreite
ADI
absolute distance interferometry
DBR diode current driver
laser diode driver
fiber interferometer
fibre interferometer
DFB diode current driver
laser frequency stabilisation
Interferometer set-up (2)
a
FPI
TC
Temperature
Stabilisation
Normalisation
Photo Detectors
Quadrature Signal
Photo Detectors
Wedged
Beam Splitter
laser beam to
experiment
Fabry-Perot-
Interferometer
BS
PB
A
PB
B
b
I
b
I
a
Advantage:
fast signal detection
measurement with 1 laser
measurement possible
while tuning the laser
Disadvantage:
calculation of phase from
x/y coordinates
Patents:
US 6,178,002
DE 197 43 493 A 1
principle fairly unknown
(until now)
13
Linewidth measurement in the
presence of noise
1. Interferometer path difference
2. Detector upper cut-off frequency
Observed noise in x-y-plane
Fourier transform of the phase noise
Noise spectrum does not exceed the detector frequency range.
MHz f m L
G
300 5 , 0 = = d.h.
MHz f
El
250 =
laser on
laser off
14
Linewidth measurement in the
presence of noise
= = 774 , 1
2 2
HBW
El R Las
MHz HBW MHz HBW
Las El
29 , 4 19 , 1 = =
1. Recording of phase values for 0,2 ms
2. Calculation of the standard deviation
for both cases (laser on and laser
off)
3. Calculation of the laser linewidth :
15
Results
Linewidth of a DBR
laser diode
Frequency noise and
linewidth during laser
tuning