Ultraflat optical frequency comb generated based on cascaded polarization modulators

Abstract

A novel approach to generating an ultraflat and stable optical frequency comb with tunable frequency spacing is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The proposed generator consists of a polarization modulator (PolM) and a polarizer. The joint operation of a PolM and a polarizer is equivalent to intensity modulation, but with a third controllable parameter in addition to the two controllable parameters in conventional intensity modulation. By tuning the three parameters, an ultraflat optical frequency comb with five comb lines is generated. By cascading the PolM with a second PolM, an ultra-flat optical frequency comb with 25 lines is generated. An experiment using two cascaded PolMs is performed. A 25- line frequency comb with the comb flatness within 1 dB is generated.