Dual-frequency Brillouin fiber laser for optical generation of tunable low-noise radio frequency/microwave frequency

Abstract

We demonstrate a new approach, i.e., a cw dual-frequency Brillouin fiber laser pumped by two independent single-frequency Er-doped fiber lasers, for the generation of tunable low-noise rf/microwave optical signals. Its inherent features of both linewidth narrowing effect in a Brillouin fiber cavity and common mode noise cancellation between two laser modes sharing a common cavity allow us to achieve high frequency stability without using a supercavity. Beat frequency of the dual-frequency Brillouin fiber laser can be tuned from tens of megahertz up to 100 GHz by thermally tuning the wavelengths of the two pump lasers with tuning sensitivity of approximately 1.4 GHz/ degrees C. Allan variance measurements show the beat signals have the hertz-level frequency stability.