Generation of Blue Electro-Optic Frequency Combs via a Four-Wave-Mixing Process in Rubidium Atomic Vapor.
- 1Joint Quantum Institute, NIST/University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States.
- 2Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States.
- 3Faculty of Engineering, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel.
Abstract
Electro-optic frequency combs (EO combs) enable high spectral and temporal resolution in atomic, molecular, and cavity-based spectroscopy that is at the heart of many quantum sensing applications. However, producing EO combs in the visible range remains challenging due to the limited availability of key components such as narrow-linewidth lasers and electro-optic phase modulators. Rubidium (Rb) is a highly nonlinear material that supports various four-wave mixing (4WM) processes, which are utilized for spectral translation and the generation of squeezed light. Here, we show the spectral translation of a 780 nm EO comb to 420 nm (a spectral separation of 330 THz) via a 4WM process in Rb vapor. We demonstrate the capability to extend the output comb bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio by varying input power levels. Through this coherent process, we can generate frequency-agile combs in the blue, including a 1 kHz spaced comb with over one million individual comb teeth, of relevance for spectroscopic measurement of narrow-linewidth features such as electromagnetically induced transparency. Leveraging this approach across different 4WM interactions in Rb should allow for further wavelength conversion and the generation of correlated frequency combs, paving the way for sub-shot-noise (squeezed-light) measurements.
Related
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BibTeX
@article{zektzer2026generation,
title = {{Generation of Blue Electro-Optic Frequency Combs via a Four-Wave-Mixing Process in Rubidium Atomic Vapor.}},
author = {Roy Zektzer and Ashish Chanana and Khoi Tuan Hoang and Rahul Shrestha and David A Long and Kartik Srinivasan},
journal = {ACS photonics},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1021/acsphotonics.6c00470},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921166},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Generation of Blue Electro-Optic Frequency Combs via a Four-Wave-Mixing Process in Rubidium Atomic Vapor.
AU - Roy Zektzer
AU - Ashish Chanana
AU - Khoi Tuan Hoang
AU - Rahul Shrestha
AU - David A Long
AU - Kartik Srinivasan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/04
JO - ACS photonics
DO - 10.1021/acsphotonics.6c00470
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921166
AB - Electro-optic frequency combs (EO combs) enable high spectral and temporal resolution in atomic, molecular, and cavity-based spectroscopy that is at the heart of many quantum sensing applications. However, producing EO combs in the visible range remains challenging due to the limited availability of key components such as narrow-linewidth lasers and electro-optic phase modulators. Rubidium (Rb) is a highly nonlinear material that supports various four-wave mixing (4WM) processes, which are utilized for spectral translation and the generation of squeezed light. Here, we show the spectral translation of a 780 nm EO comb to 420 nm (a spectral separation of 330 THz) via a 4WM process in Rb vapor. We demonstrate the capability to extend the output comb bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio by varying input power levels. Through this coherent process, we can generate frequency-agile combs in the blue, including a 1 kHz spaced comb with over one million individual comb teeth, of relevance for spectroscopic measurement of narrow-linewidth features such as electromagnetically induced transparency. Leveraging this approach across different 4WM interactions in Rb should allow for further wavelength conversion and the generation of correlated frequency combs, paving the way for sub-shot-noise (squeezed-light) measurements.
SN - 2330-4022
ER -