Laser phase and frequency noise measurement
by Michelson interferometer composed of a 3 × 3
optical fiber coupler
Dan Xu,
1,2
Fei Yang,
1,3
Dijun Chen,
1
Fang Wei,
1
Haiwen Cai,
1,4
Zujie Fang,
1
and Ronghui Qu
1
1
Shanghai Key Laboratory of All Solid-State Laser and Applied Techniques, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine
Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China
2
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
3
fyang@siom.ac.cn
4
hwcai@siom.ac.cn
Abstract: A laser phase and frequency noise measurement method by an
unbalanced Michelson interferometer composed of a 3 × 3 optical fiber
coupler is proposed. The relations and differences of the power spectral
density (PSD) of differential phase and frequency fluctuation, PSD of
instantaneous phase and frequency fluctuation, phase noise and linewidth
are derived strictly and discussed carefully. The method obtains the noise
features of a narrow linewidth laser conveniently without any specific
assumptions or noise models. The technique is also used to characterize the
noise features of a narrow linewidth external-cavity semiconductor laser,
which confirms the correction and robustness of the method.
©2015 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (120.3688) Lightwave analyzers; (060.2920) Homodyning; (140.3570) Lasers,
single-mode.
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Received 12 Jun 2015; revised 21 Jul 2015; accepted 11 Aug 2015; published 17 Aug 2015
24 Aug 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 17 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.022386 | OPTICS EXPRESS 22386