Absolute frequency synthesis of pulsed coherent light waves through phase-modulation active optical feedback

A novel method for the broadband absolute frequency synthesis of pulsed coherent lightwaves is demonstrated. It is based on pulse recirculation around an active optical feedback ring containing a delay-line fiber, an external phase modulator, an acousto-optic frequency shifter (AOFS), and a high-finesse Fabry-Perot étalon. The modulation frequency F_M and the frequency shift F_AO that are due to AOFS are designed so that their sum or difference equals the free-spectral range of the étalon and F_AO is set at larger than the half-width at full maximum of its resonant peaks. If one of the peak frequencies is tuned to the frequency of the initial pulse, the frequency of the recirculating pulse jumps to the next peak for each round trip. In the experiment the absolute frequency is synthesized over a frequency span of 700 GHz around the initial stabilized frequency of the master laser.