Comb Teeth Research Articles

Narrow-linewidth frequency transfer from 698 nm to 1542 nm based on Er-doped fiber optical frequency comb

Narrow-linewidth optical frequency combs are widely used in optical clock frequency comparisons. This paper reports a narrow-linewidth Er-doped fiber optical frequency comb which can achieve the transmission of narrow-linewidth optical frequencies from 698 nm to 1542 nm. An electro-optic modulator is used as a high servo bandwidth component in the narrow-linewidth optical frequency comb, realizing the fast phase-locking of the comb teeth to a narrow-linewidth laser with a servo bandwidth of 236 kHz. With the single-point frequency-doubling method, the optical frequency comb can realize an output at a wavelength of 698 nm. When the comb teeth are phase-locked to a narrow-linewidth 698 nm laser, the integrated phase noise is 0.68 rad with an integration range from 5 MHz to 1 Hz, and the linewidth is less than 2.38 Hz at 1542 nm. This indicates that the narrow-linewidth characteristic of the optical frequency comb is transmitted from 698 nm to 1542 nm.

Flat Optical Frequency Comb Generation Based on Monolithic Integrated LNOI Intensity and Phase Modulator

A flat optical frequency comb (OFC) is generated by using a monolithic integrated electro-optic intensity and phase modulator fabricated on lithium niobite on insulator (LNOI) platform. The LNOI-based modulation chip consists of a push–pull Mach–Zehnder modulator (MZM) and a U-shaped phase modulator (PM) connected by a curved optical waveguide. Microwave and optical packaging are implemented for the modulation chip, where the input and output pigtails of the packaged modulation device are polarization-maintaining fibers, with a core diameter of 6.5 μm. The packaged LNOI-based modulation device is featured by a fiber-to-fiber insertion loss as low as 6.97 dB. The half-wave voltages of the MZM and the PM are measured to be 3.6 V and 3.4 V at 5 GHz, respectively. By using the modulation device, an OFC with a tooth spacing of 5 GHz is generated, and the 13 comb teeth in the generated OFC are with a power flatness of 2.4 dB. The measured results of this device indicate that the tooth spacing of the generated OFC can be extended to tens of gigahertz by using a microwave source with a higher output frequency. In addition, the number of the comb teeth can be enhanced beyond 20 by increasing the power of the radio-frequency signal applied to the PM or by further reducing the half-wave voltage of the PM.

High-resolution wide-band optical frequency comb control using stimulated Brillouin scattering.

We introduce a technique to manipulate an optical frequency comb on a line-by-line basis using stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). The narrow-linewidth SBS process has been used to address individual lines in optical frequency combs, but previous demonstrations required a dedicated laser to modulate each comb tooth, prohibiting complete comb control. Here, we use a pair of frequency shifting fiber optic loops to generate both an optical frequency comb and a train of frequency-locked pulses that can be used to manipulate the comb via SBS. This approach enables control of the entire frequency comb using a single seed laser without active frequency locking. To demonstrate the versatility of this technique, we generate and manipulate a comb consisting of 50 lines with 200 MHz spacing. By using polarization pulling assisted SBS, we achieve a modulation depth of 30 dB. This represents a scalable approach to control large numbers of comb teeth with high resolution using standard fiber-optic components.

Hybridized Frequency Combs in Multimode Cavity Electromechanical System.

The cavity electromechanical devices with radiation-pressure interaction induced Kerr-like nonlinearity are promising candidates to generate microwave frequency combs. We construct a silicon-nitride membrane based superconducting cavity electromechanical device and study two mechanical modes synergistic frequency combs. Around the threshold of intracavity field instability, we first show independent frequency combs with tooth spacing equal to each mechanical mode frequency. At the overlap boundaries of these two individual mechanical mode mediated instability thresholds, we observe hybridization of frequency combs based on the cavity field mediated indirect coupling between these two mechanical modes. The spectrum lines turn out to be unequally spaced, but can be recognized in combinations of the coexisting frequency combs. Beyond the boundary, the comb reverts to the single mode case, and which mechanical mode frequency will the tooth spacing be depends on the mode competition. Our work demonstrates mechanical mode competition enabled switchability of frequency comb tooth spacing and can be extended to other devices with multiple nonlinearities.

Research on a new designed upward turning comb of escalator

Abstract Escalator is an important transportation method for people in their daily life. The comb fixed at the entrance and exit is an important component of the escalator. Its function is to facilitate the transportation of passengers and prevent the escalator from being damaged by foreign matters to a certain extent. In order to avoid harm to passengers caused by the comb, the end of the comb should be made of easily broken material traditionally such as plastic and aluminum to ensure that the object can be released when clamped. This greatly increases the loss of comb and the repair time of maintenance personnel and leaves potential safety hazards. The article researches a new designed upward turning comb of escalator. The device comprises comb plate, mounting base, guide rod, spring, comb teeth, rotating shaft, upper baffle, chute, notch, mounting hole, long hole, guide hole, lower baffle, positioning block and arc push block. Compared with the prior technology, this new comb has the advantages of simple structure, convenient operation, repeated use, difficult to damage.

Flow-Enhanced Flexible Microcomb Printing of Organic Solar Cells.

Scalable and roll-to-roll compatible processing methods have become pressing needs to transfer organic solar cells (OSCs) to realistic energy sources. Herein a new fabrication method of flexible microcomb printing is proposed. The microcomb is based on a PET sheet micromachined into comb teeth by a laser marker. A computational fluid mechanics simulation shows that the fluid flow around the microcomb teeth induces high shear as well as extensional strain rates, which enhance the molecular alignment and lateral mass transport. The PTQ10:Y6-BO OSCs printed by the flexible microcomb demonstrate a substantially increased degree of crystallinity and phase separation with a suitable domain size. Devices printed by the flexible microcomb in air achieve PCEs of up to 15.93%, higher than those of control devices spin-coated in the N2 glovebox. The flexibility of the PET film makes the microcomb teeth contact directly with the substrate without a suspended liquid meniscus, thus facilitating printing on soft or curved substrates. Printing of flexible OSCs and large-area devices are demonstrated. The flexible OSCs exhibit PCEs of up to 13.62%, which is the highest for flexible OSCs made by scalable printing techniques to date. These results make flexible microcomb printing a feasible and promising strategy toward the manufacture of efficient OSCs.

Electrostatic-Fluid-Structure 3D Numerical Simulation of a MEMS Electrostatic Comb Resonator.

The reliability and stability of MEMS electrostatic comb resonators have become bottlenecks in practical applications. However, there are few studies that comprehensively consider the nonlinear dynamic behavior characteristics of MEMS systems and devices in a coupled field so that the related simulation accuracy is low and cannot meet the needs of design applications. In this paper, to avoid the computational complexity and the uncertainty of the results of three-field direct coupling and take into the damping nonlinearity caused by coupled fields, a novel electrostatic-fluid-structure three-field indirect coupling method is proposed. Taking an actual microcomb resonant electric field sensor as an example, an electrostatic-fluid-structure multiphysics coupling 3D finite element simulation model is established. After considering the influence of nonlinear damping concerning the large displacement of the structure and the microscale effect, multifield coupling dynamics research is carried out using COMSOL software. The multiorder eigenmodes, resonant frequency, vibration amplitude, and the distribution of fluid load of the microresonator are calculated and analyzed. The simulated data of resonance frequency and displacement amplitude are compared with the measured data. The results show that the fluid load distribution of the microelectrostatic comb resonator along the thickness direction is high in the middle and low on both sides. The viscous damping of the sensor under atmospheric pressure is mainly composed of the incompressible flow damping of the comb teeth, which is an order of magnitude larger than those of other parts. Compared with the measured data, it can be concluded that the amplitude and resonance frequency of the microresonator considering the nonlinear damping force and residual thermal stress are close to the experimental values (amplitude error: 15.47%, resonance frequency error: 12.48%). This article provides a reference for studies on the dynamic characteristics of electrostatically driven MEMS devices.

Difference-frequency chirped-pulse dual-comb generation in the THz region: Temporal magnification of the quantum dynamics of water vapor lines by >60 000.

A new difference-frequency method based on electro-optic phase modulators (EOMs) and two free-running lasers is reported to perform chirped-pulse dual-comb spectroscopy in the THz region. A variation of a near-IR interleaving scheme we recently reported has been developed to interleave the EOMs' orders and sidebands and to map THz comb teeth into the radio-frequency region below 1MHz. The down-converted comb teeth are shown to have transform limited widths of 1Hz over a 1s time scale. The dual chirp-pulsed scheme is used to measure the complex line shapes of two water vapor lines below 600GHz and to temporally magnify the effects of rapid passage by more than 60 000. For the 11,0 ← 10,1 transition in H2O, a pressure dependent phase perturbation is observed in the rapid passage response over the magnified time scale in contrast to a uniform line shape transformation observed for the 21,1 ← 20,2 transition of D2O. The possible origins for this anomalous behavior are modeled and discussed. The method is applicable to any region where difference or sum frequency waves can be generated.

Numerical Simulation of Mixing Process in a Splitting-and-Recombination Microreactor

The mixing process between miscible fluids in a splitting-and-recombination microreactor is analyzed numerically by solving the Navier–Stokes equation and species transfer equation. The commercial microreactor combines rectangular channels with comb-shaped inserts to achieve the splitting-and-recombination effect. The results show that the microreactor with three-layer standard inserts have the highest mixing rate as well as good mixing efficiency within a wide range of Reynolds numbers from 0.1 to 160. The size parameters of the inserts, both the ratio of the width of comb tooth (marked as l) and the spacing distance (marked as s) between two comb teeth, and the ratio of the vertical distance (marked as V) of comb teeth and the horizontal distance (marked as H) are essential for influencing the liquid–liquid mixing process at low Reynolds numbers (e.g., Re ≤ 2). With the increase of s/l from 1 to 4, the mixing efficiency drops from 0.99 to 0.45 at Re = 0.2. Similarly, the increase in V/H is not beneficial to promote the mixing between fluids. When the ratio of V/H changes from 10:10 to 10:4, the splitting and recombination cycles reduce so that the uniform mixing between different fluids can be hardly achieved. The width of comb tooth (marked as l) is 1 mm and the spacing distance (marked as s) between two comb teeth is 2 mm. The vertical distance (marked as V) of comb teeth and the horizontal distance (marked as H) are both 10 mm.

Hook-and-Loop laser fastening of an optical frequency comb to a strongly driven two-level quantum system

In order to control the state of a two-level quantum system (e.g. the spin state of an ion qubit), optical frequency combs perform a two-photon stimulated Raman process through stimulated absorption from one comb tooth and stimulated emission into another comb tooth. If the two-level energy gap is an integer multiple of the repetition rate of the laser, resonant Rabi oscillations are excited. When these latter have a frequency close to the qubit’s transition one, a strongly anharmonic phase-locked cycle may exist on the Bloch sphere, which generates a sub-harmonic series of very narrow, equally spaced, spectral lines. If the repetition rate of an optical frequency comb is appropriately tuned to these latter (up to the average carrier envelope frequency), a highly resonant dynamical regime of the two-level system should be reached where the Raman stimulated absorption and emission processes would occur for any pair of adjacent comb teeth.

Dynamics in direct two-photon transition by frequency combs

Based on the proposed theoretical model of a three-level system, the optical Bloch equations including the direct two-photon transition (DTPT) process using the optical frequency comb (OFC) were derived and the population distribution of particles in the upper states varying with the velocity of the atoms was obtained. Comparing to the resonance two-photon transition process, that population was increased by a factor of 1.4 without the Doppler shift, which is consistent with our previous experimental results. Simultaneously, the relationships between momentum transfers, and atomic velocity and pulse number were analyzed. When applied to a multi-level system it was found that the population of particles in the excited states increased by a few percentages. The novel approach of DTPT using OFC improved the utilization of comb teeth and atoms, increased the momentum transfer path, reduced the reachable Doppler temperature limit, and encouraged us to use OFC to cool multiple elements simultaneously through the DTPT process. By analyzing the Doppler temperature of 133Cs and 87Rb in one dimension, it was found that this process can lower a temperature below 100 mK and generate dipolar molecules 133Cs87Rb via photoassociation, which provides us with a new tool to create dipolar molecules and to investigate their complex rovibrational spectra in ultra-cold chemistry.

Ultra-broadband Kerr microcomb through soliton spectral translation

Broadband and low-noise microresonator frequency combs (microcombs) are critical for deployable optical frequency measurements. Here we expand the bandwidth of a microcomb far beyond its anomalous dispersion region on both sides of its spectrum through spectral translation mediated by mixing of a dissipative Kerr soliton and a secondary pump. We introduce the concept of synthetic dispersion to qualitatively capture the system’s key physical behavior, in which the second pump enables spectral translation through four-wave mixing Bragg scattering. Experimentally, we pump a silicon nitride microring at 1063 nm and 1557 nm to enable soliton spectral translation, resulting in a total bandwidth of 1.6 octaves (137–407 THz). We examine the comb’s low-noise characteristics, through heterodyne beat note measurements across its spectrum, measurements of the comb tooth spacing in its primary and spectrally translated portions, and their relative noise. These ultra-broadband microcombs provide new opportunities for optical frequency synthesis, optical atomic clocks, and reaching previously unattainable wavelengths.

Dual-comb cavity-mode width and shift spectroscopy

Optical frequency comb spectrometry has become one of the leading fields devising new ways to investigate molecular structure and characterize optical elements due to its advantage in speed and accuracy. In this work we demonstrate the first dual-comb realization of cavity mode-width and mode-dispersion spectroscopies, achieving single-spectrum acquisition time in millisecond range, maintaining high spectral resolution limited by the comb tooth width. Interleaving of a few tens of spectra allows us to measure shapes of 13 kHz-wide enhancement cavity modes and determine their widths and positions with Hz-level precision. Thanks to this we can simultaneously measure the loss and dispersion of both the cavity and the intracavity medium. As a demonstration, we measure spectra of a gas mixture of methane and nitrogen and compare them with a simulation based on the HITRAN database. This novel method has many possible applications, including gas metrology, high-reflectivity mirror characterization or trace gas sensing.

Ultrasensitive multispecies spectroscopic breath analysis for real-time health monitoring and diagnostics

Breath analysis enables rapid, noninvasive diagnostics, as well as long-term monitoring of human health, through the identification and quantification of exhaled biomarkers. Here, we demonstrate the remarkable capabilities of mid-infrared (mid-IR) cavity-enhanced direct-frequency comb spectroscopy (CE-DFCS) applied to breath analysis. We simultaneously detect and monitor as a function of time four breath biomarkers-[Formula: see text]OH, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]O, and HDO-as well as illustrate the feasibility of detecting at least six more ([Formula: see text]CO, [Formula: see text], OCS, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text]) without modifications to the experimental apparatus. We achieve ultrahigh detection sensitivity at the parts-per-trillion level. This is made possible by the combination of the broadband spectral coverage of a frequency comb, the high spectral resolution afforded by the individual comb teeth, and the sensitivity enhancement resulting from a high-finesse cavity. Exploiting recent advances in frequency comb, optical coating, and photodetector technologies, we can access a large variety of biomarkers with strong carbon-hydrogen-bond spectral signatures in the mid-IR.

4SGMS-220型耕层残膜回收机的设计及参数优化

In view of the harm of residual film retention to soil environment in Xinjiang which even affected the germination of seeds and hindered the growth of crop roots in severe cases, in this paper, a 4SGMS-220 plough layer residual film recovery machine with a ground preparation device is designed. The main part of the machine is composed of a filming mechanism, a conveying mechanism, a soil crushing roller, and a film collecting box. The machine can achieve simultaneous film lifting, film stripping, collecting membrane and suppression operations. In this paper, primary focus is placed on the design of the filming mechanism, while the movement trajectory of the comb teeth and the filming condition are analysed in detail. In order to obtain the optimal combination of equipment and operating parameters, the equipment traveling speed, the filming device rotational speed, and the comb teeth depth are used as the influencing factors. Furthermore, the residual film recovery rate and impurity rates are employed as test indicators for three-factor three-level response surface experiment and optimization via Design-Expert software. The results indicate that optimal operation is achieved for the machine travel speed of 4.1 km/h, the filming device speed of 106 min-1, and the comb tooth soil penetration depth of 139.2 mm. The residual film recovery rate is equal to 74.32%, while the residual film impurity rate is equal to 7.11%. The difference between the test results and the predicted values is relatively small. Thus, it can be concluded that the optimized model is reliable.

Robust Optical Frequency Comb Generation by Using a Three-Stage Optical Nonlinear Dynamic

In this article, we propose and investigate a novel scheme to generate optical frequency combs (OFCs) by using a three-stage generator, which is based on optical injection–induced dynamics cascaded by subharmonic electro-optic modulation and the four-wave mixing (FWM) effect. A primary seed OFC is rooted from the nonlinear dynamics in the optically injected semiconductor laser, and its performance is improved using a two-stage booster based on subharmonic electro-optic modulation and the FWM effect. The comb spacing can be easily tuned by adjusting that of the primary seed OFC or through electro-optic modulation by the use of subharmonics with different orders. Moreover, it becomes stabilized because the phase relationship between the comb teeth can be fixed in the process of subharmonic electro-optic modulation. Its optical spectrum continues to be broadened in the following FWM process. Finally, robust OFCs with a comb spacing of 4 GHz and a comb teeth number of 23 and a comb spacing of 5 GHz and a comb teeth number of 21 are experimentally demonstrated.

Design, simulation and test of roller comb type Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema morifolium Ramat) picking machine

At present, Chrysanthemums are still picked manually. In order to improve picking efficiency and reduce harvesting costs, this research designed a roller comb type Chrysanthemum picking machine. The picking machine was mainly composed of comb teeth, a power device, walking parts, and a collecting box. According to the mechanical characteristics of the Chrysanthemum, the picking structure model of Chrysanthemum was established based on ADAMS. The generalized force connection was used between the receptacle and the flower stalk of Chrysanthemum. The fracture condition of the flower stalk was monitored by setting sensors. The main factors affecting the harvesting effect were determined by simulation test, and the simulation test was verified by single factor test. The orthogonal test showed that: when comb speed was 50 r·min−1, comb clearance was 6 mm, the working depth of comb was 175 mm, and comb insertion angle was 45°, Chrysanthemum has the best harvest effect. The picking rate was 94.12%, the impurity rate was 7.81%, the damage rate was 2.20%, and the loss rate was 3.12%. The experiment proved that the roller comb type Chrysanthemum picking machine has a good picking effect, which can provide a reference for the optimization design of Chrysanthemum harvesting machinery.

Self-Injection Locking of a Gain-Switched Laser Diode

We experimentally observed self-injection locking regime of the gain-switched laser to high-Q optical microresonator. We revealed that comb generated by the gain-switched laser experiences a dramatic reduce of comb teeth linewidths in this regime. We demonstrated the Lorentzian linewidth of the comb teeth of sub-kHz scale as narrow as for non-switched self-injection locked laser. Such setup allows generation of high-contrast electrically-tunable optical frequency combs with tunable comb line spacing in a wide range from 10 kHz up to 10 GHz. The characteristics of the generated combs were studied for various modulation parameters - modulation frequency and amplitude, and for parameters, defining the efficiency of the self-injection locking - locking phase, coupling efficiency, pump frequency detuning.

Self-Calibrated Measurement of Frequency Response for Broadband Photodetectors Based on Two-Tone Photonic Sampling

A self-calibrated method to measuring the frequency responses of broadband photodetectors (PDs) is proposed based on photonic pulse sampling of two-tone microwave signal, with the help of a mode-locked laser diode (MLLD) and a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM). Firstly, the repetition frequency of the optical comb from the MLLD divides the whole measuring frequency range into several segments. Then, a close-spaced two-tone signal modulates every comb tooth through the MZM and generates the sum- and difference-frequency products, working as the probing signal to extract the frequency response of the PD in every segment. Hyper-fine frequency response of the PD at any frequency point can be obtained in every segment by subtly varying the center frequency of the two-tone signal while keeping the difference frequency fixed. Finally, the whole frequency response of the PD in ultra-wide frequency range is obtained by seamlessly stitching the segmental frequency responses. In our experiment, measurement of a commercial PD is demonstrated up to 49.765 GHz with an optical comb at the repetition frequency of 9.953 GHz and a two-tone modulation up to 4.9765 GHz. The measured results are compared with those by using the traditional methods to check accuracy. Moreover, the uneven responses of the MLLD and the MZM are fully subtracted, verifying the ultra-wideband, hyperfine and self-calibrated measurement of PDs based on the two-tone photonic sampling.

Design of Intelligent Garage Control System Based on Internet of Things

According to comb tooth mufti-layer parking equipment control problem, a control system based on Internet of things the garage is designed. The control system mainly includes two parts, which are the garage terminal and the mobile phone terminal. The garage terminal used arduino microcontroller as the controlling core, it used the Ethernet module to access the internet of things, it can collect parking information, park and fetch the car to the garage, etc. The mobile APP terminal completes human-computer interaction with users. After the design of the control system is completed, the function test is carried out. The test results show that the app to complete the garage booking, parking, pick-up and other functions. It can meet the requires of the intelligent garage, which has a certain reference value for the design of modern intelligent garage system.