High precision frequency measurement of terahertz waves using optical combs from a Mach-Zehnder-modulator-based flat comb generator.

Abstract

Using a frequency-tunable optical comb generated from a Mach-Zehnder-modulator-based flat comb generator (MZ-FCG) and a nonlinear optical fiber, we demonstrated a frequency measurement of continuous terahertz wave sources with the frequency of 0.1 and 0.6THz by an electro-optic sampling method. We clearly observed beat signals between the terahertz source and the optical two-tone extracted from the optical comb, allowing us to determine the absolute frequency. Owing to the wide comb spacing of the MZ-FCG, this method has a high potential for the high-speed measurement of the frequency of terahertz wave sources.