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Alexandre Parriaux

Publications and source records attributed to Alexandre Parriaux.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2025

Free-Running Ring Quantum Cascade Laser with 50 kHz Linewidth

We report on the noise characterization of a free-running ring quantum cascade laser resonator emitting a single frequency mode around 7.7 $\mu$m. Using a gas cell filled with N$_2$O as a frequency-to-voltage discriminator, we measured the frequency noise power spectral density of the laser from which we extracted its linewidth. The results show a full width at half maximum close to 50 kHz at 1 s integration time, which represents at least a sixfold improvement compared to state-of-the-art quantum cascade lasers operating in a spectral region above 7 $\mu$m. We also demonstrate that such lasers can be efficiently used for frequency modulation spectroscopy, which opens up new possibilities for high resolution metrology and spectroscopic applications in the mid-infrared.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2024

Non-resonant Optical Injection Locking in Quantum Cascade Laser Frequency Combs

Optical injection locking of the repetition frequency of a quantum cascade laser frequency comb is demonstrated using an intensity modulated near-infrared light at 1.55 $\mu$m illuminating the front facet of the laser. Compared to the traditional electrical modulation approach, the introduced technique presents benefits from several perspectives such as the availability of mature and high bandwidth equipment in the near-infrared, circumvent the need of dedicated electronic components for the quantum cascade laser, and allows a direct link between the near and mid-infrared for amplitude to frequency modulation. We show that this stabilization scheme, used with moderate near-infrared power of a few milliwatts, allows for a strong reduction of the frequency noise. We also perform a full characterization of the mechanism and evidence that the locking range follows Adler's law. A comparison of our results with those in recent literature indicates that the optical approach leads to better performance compared to the traditional method, which we expect to benefit mid-infrared spectroscopy and metrological applications.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2024

Optimum design of NOLM-driven mode-locked fiber lasers

Most of the saturable absorbers commonly used to perform mode locking in laser cavities affect the trigger conditions of laser oscillation, which requires manually forcing the laser start-up by various means such as polarization controllers. We present a procedure for designing a laser cavity driven by a nonlinear optical loop mirror, which allows the laser to operate optimally without interfering with the oscillation triggering conditions, thus opening up possibilities for integration of this type of laser.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2024

Design and fabrication of dispersion controlled highly nonlinear fibers for far-tuned four-wave mixing frequency conversion

We report on the conception, fabrication and characterization of a new concept of optical fiber enabling a precise control of the ratio between the 2nd and 4th-order of chromatic dispersion (respectively \b{eta}2 and \b{eta}4) at 1.55 micro-meter which is at the heart of the Four-Wave-Mixing (FWM) generation. For conventional highly nonlinear fiber the sensitivity of this ratio to fiber geometry fluctuations is very critical, making the fabrication process challenging. The new design fiber reconciles the accurate control of chromatic dispersion properties and fabrication by standard stack and draw method, allowing a robust and reliable method against detrimental fluctuations parameters during the fabrication process. Experimental frequency conversion with FWM in the new design fiber is demonstrated.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Coherence analysis of tightly locked mid-infrared quantum cascade laser frequency combs

Frequency combs are powerful tools for many applications and high performances are achieved by stabilizing these lasers. For operation in the mid-infrared, quantum cascade lasers (QCL) are ideal candidates as they present numerous advantages. However, stabilized QCL-combs lack of a detailed characterization of their noise properties due to the sensitivity limits of current analyzing techniques. To overcome these challenges, we developed what we believe to be the first tightly locked dual QCL-comb system. Its use is twofold. First, phase noise analysis of the dual-comb signal shows residual phase noise below 600 mrad for all comb lines, and we characterize the comb coherence as well as the performances of the repetition frequency locking mechanism. Second, we demonstrate coherent averaging with a $7 \times 10^5$ Hz$^{1/2}$ figure-of-merit system, which is compatible with high precision spectroscopy.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Near-infrared dual-comb spectroscopy of CO2 and N2O with a discretized highly nonlinear fiber

In this paper, we introduce an all-fibered dual-comb spectrometer based on a new design of highly nonlinear fiber to efficiently convert frequency combs from 1.55 micron to 2 micron We show that our spectrometer can be used to measure absorption profiles of rovibrational transitions of CO2 and N2O molecules, and especially their collisional self-broadening coefficients. The results show very good agreement with the HITRAN database and thus further measurements have been performed on a mixture CO2 /N2O to measure the broadening of the CO2 absorption lines resulting from the presence of N2O.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Experimental measurements of the transfer function of a nonlinear optical loop mirror

Measurement of the average values of the input and output powers of a device can give insight into the transfer function (TF) of that device, but this approach usually hides the real impact of certain propagation phenomena. However, to the best of our knowledge, measurements of the TF of nonlinear optical loop mirrors have always been carried out using this approach [1-3], which may lead to underestimating the impact of dispersive and nonlinear effects. Here we present the experimental measurement of the TF of a nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM), made from the experimental measurements of the input and output intensity profiles of the device, using a frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) technique [4-6]. Our approach clearly highlights the impact of dispersion effects and Kerr nonlinearity on the NOLM's TF.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2023

Coherent Control of Mid-Infrared Frequency Comb by Optical Injection of Near-Infrared Light

We demonstrate the use of a low power near-infrared laser illuminating the front facet of a quantum cascade laser (QCL) as an optical actuator for the coherent control of a mid-infrared frequency comb. We show that by appropriate current control of the QCL comb and intensity modulation of the near-infrared laser, a tight phase lock of a comb line to a distributed feedback laser is possible with 2 MHz of locking bandwidth and 200 mrad of residual phase noise. A characterization of the whole scheme is provided showing the limits of the electrical actuation which we bypassed using the optical actuation. Both comb degrees of freedom can be locked by performing electrical injection locking of the repetition rate in parallel. However, we show that the QCL acts as a fast near-infrared light detector such that injection locking can also be achieved through modulation of the near-infrared light. These results on the coherent control of a quantum cascade laser frequency comb are particularly interesting for coherent averaging in dual-comb spectroscopy and for mid-infrared frequency comb applications requiring high spectral purity.

physics.optics↗
arXiv2022

Isotope Ratio Dual-Comb Spectrometer

We demonstrate the use of dual-comb spectroscopy for isotope ratio measurements. We show that the analysis spectral range of a free-running near-infrared dual-comb spectrometer can be extended to the mid-infrared by difference frequency generation to target specific spectral regions suitable for such measurements, and especially the relative isotopic ratio $\delta {}^{13}$C. The measurements performed present a very good repeatability over several days with a standard deviation below 2$\unicode{x2030}$ for a recording time of a few tens of seconds, and the results are compatible with measurements obtained using an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Our setup also shows the possibility to target several chemical species without any major modification, which can be used to measure other isotopic ratios. Further improvements could decrease the uncertainties of the measurements, and the spectrometer could thus compete with isotope ratio spectrometers currently available on the market.

physics.ins-det↗