As part of the ongoing world-wide effort in improving time and frequency references, a high accuracy optical frequency standard was developed using the electric quadrupole allowed clock transition at 445 THz (674 nm) in a trapped and laser cooled 88Sr+ion. An ion trap system of the endcap design has been recently evaluated with a fractional frequency uncertainty which surpasses the accuracy of the current realization of the SI second. This thesis seeks to further evaluate the limiting systematic shifts of the device by optimizing a second ion trap reference based on a rf Paul trap design, which was then compared with the endcap trap reference frequency. The comparison of the two ion traps' reference frequencies confirmed an overall offset of -0.36 pm 0.08 Hz at the 445 THz reference frequency corresponding to a fractional frequency offset of 8 x 10^-16.

As part of the ongoing world-wide effort in improving time and frequency references, a high accuracy optical frequency standard was developed using the electric quadrupole allowed clock transition at 445 THz (674 nm) in a trapped and laser cooled 88Sr+ion. An ion trap system of the endcap design has been recently evaluated with a fractional frequency uncertainty which surpasses the accuracy of the current realization of the SI second. This thesis seeks to further evaluate the limiting systematic shifts of the device by optimizing a second ion trap reference based on a rf Paul trap design, which was then compared with the endcap trap reference frequency. The comparison of the two ion traps' reference frequencies confirmed an overall offset of -0.36 pm 0.08 Hz at the 445 THz reference frequency corresponding to a fractional frequency offset of 8 x 10^-16.

In this dissertation I present experimental results obtained on the mercury optical clock project in the research group of Jason Jones at the University of Arizona. The project began in 2008 with the purpose of investigating the feasibility of neutral mercury as an optical clock species. The first series of investigations involved building the essential apparatus and scanning the doppler-broadened 6¹S₀ - 6³P₀ clock transition in ¹⁹⁹Hg. Here I present significant modifications to the cooling and trapping laser, improvements to the spectroscopy laser linewidth, and attempts to measure the 2-photon transition in ¹⁹⁹Hg. After previously demonstrating spectroscopy of the mercury clock transition using an optically-pumped semiconductor laser for the cooling and trapping source (OPSL), we replaced the OPSL with a a fiber-amplified ECLD system. We custom built a fiber amplifier to provide gain at 1015 nm, demonstrating the system can yield up to 5 W of signal power with excellent suppression of the ASE power. We find that the ASE is well suppressed by using a two-stage configuration and short sections of gain fiber. The linewidth of our original spectroscopy laser was over 10 kHz, which is unsuitable to resolve of sub-Doppler features. To enhance the performance of our spectroscopy system, we integrated faster feedback bandwidth using AOMs, and incorporated derivative gain into the system. This resulted in a feedback bandwidth for our spectroscopy laser of over 200 kHz. With this system, we demonstrate anactively stabilized linewidth of 525 Hz for our spectroscopy system. Using the upgraded cooling and spectroscopy laser systems, we demonstrate spectroscopy of the clock system and confirm temperature measurements derived from the transition linewidth. We also describe attempts to detect the recoil shift and 2-photon transition in neutral mercury.

Single-frequency and mode-locked silver film ion-exchanged glass waveguide lasers as well as all-optical clock recovery based on birefringent fiber resonators have been experimentally and theoretically studied. The theory, modeling and fabrication process of silver film ion-exchange techniques, have been discussed and presented.The UV-written gratings on both IOG-1 active and passive glass have been studied. For the first time, with a high quality narrowband grating UV-printed on the passive section of a hybrid glass, a DBR waveguide single-frequency laser is demonstrated with the linewidth less than 1 MHz and the output power of 9 mW.Novel saturable absorbers based on a fiber taper embedded in carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/polymer composite were demonstrated. The saturable absorbers were utilized to build mode-locked fiber lasers, which were studied experimentally. A mode-locked ring laser utilizing an Er-Yb-codoped glass waveguide as the gain medium was also demonstrated. In addition, short cavity mode-locked waveguide lasers with CNTs film on the top were theoretically investigated, which shows a short cavity mode-locked waveguide laser is very promising.A new concept to perform multi-channel multi-rate all-optical clock recovery based on birefringent fiber-optic waveguide resonators was discussed. The concept has been advanced to polarization-insensitive operation. The experimental results, obtained as a proof-of-concept, agree well with numerical simulations.

CMOS is well known for its ability to scale. This fact is reflected in the aggressive scaling on a continual basis from the invention of CMOS up to date. As devices are scaled, device performance improves due to shorter channel lengths and more densely packed functions for the same amount of area. In recent years, however, the performance gain obtained through scaling has begun to suffer under the degradation of the associate interconnect performance. As devices become smaller, interconnects need to follow. Unlike transistors, the scaling of interconnects results in higher capacitances and resistances, thereby limiting overall system performance. Trying to alleviate the delay effects results in increased power consumption, especially in global structures such as clock distribution networks. A possible solution to this problem is the use of optical interconnects, which are fast and much less lossy than the electrical equivalents. This dissertation describes an investigation on what future technology nodes will entail in terms of power consumption of clock networks, and what is required for an optical alternative to become feasible. A common clock configuration is used as a basis for comparison, where both electrical and optical networks are designed to component level. Optimisation is done on both to ensure a reasonable comparison, and the results of the respective power consumption components are then compared in order to find the criteria for a feasible optical clock distribution scheme. Copyright / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

L’objet de cette thèse est le développement d’un standard de fréquence optique base sur l’atome de mercure 199Hg piégé dans un réseau optique. Je présenterai le dispositif expérimental et les améliorations apportées au cours de la thèse qui ont permis d’effectuer la spectroscopie de la transition doublement interdite 1S0 – 3P0 du mercure dans le domaine ultraviolet avec une résolution de l’ordre du Hz. Une telle résolution nous a permis de mener une étude approfondie des effets physiques affectant la fréquence de la transition d’horloge. Cette étude a permis un gain d’un facteur 60 sur la connaissance de la fréquence de la transition d’horloge, et de pousser l’incertitude au-delà de la réalisation de la seconde si par les étalons de fréquence basés sur le césium. Enfin je présenterai les résultats de plusieurs campagnes de comparaison entre notre étalon au mercure et d’autres horloges de très haute précision fonctionnant dans le domaine optique ainsi que dans le domaine micro-onde. / This thesis presents the development of a high-accuracy optical frequency standard based on neutral mercury 199Hg atoms trapped in an optical lattice.I will present the experimental setup and the improvements that were made during this thesis, which have allowed us to perform spectroscopy on the doubly forbidden 1S0 - 3P0 mercury clock transition with Hz level resolution. With such a resolution, we have been able to conduct an in-depth study of the physical effects affecting the clock transition. This study represents a factor 60 in accuracy on the knowledge of the clock transitions frequency, pushing the accuracy below the current realization of the si second by the best cesium atomic fountains. Finally, i will present the results of several comparison campaigns between the mercury clock and other state-of-the-art frequency standards, both in the optical and in the microwave domain.

Cette thèse porte sur le développement d’un dispositif laser à 1,54 µm, triplé en fréquence et stabilisé sur une transition hyperfine de l’iode moléculaire au voisinage de 514 nm.Une partie importante de ce travail est consacrée au triplage de la fréquence d’une diode laser à 1,54 µm, en utilisant deux cristaux non linéaires de Niobate de lithium en structure guide d’onde (PPLN), fibrés. Une efficacité de conversion non linéaire P3w/Pw > 36 % a été obtenue, constituant le meilleur rendement jamais démontré pour un processus de triplage de fréquence en mode continu. Une puissance harmonique de 300 mW a été ainsi générée à 514 nm, à partir d’une puissance fondamentale de 800 mW à 1,54 µm. Le banc optique est totalement fibré, et la puissance électrique totale consommée, nécessaire pour réaliser le triplage de fréquence, n’est que de 20 W. Selon un mode opératoire spécifique, ce dispositif laser permet de fournir simultanément trois radiations intenses, stabilisées en fréquence, à 1.54 µm, 771 nm et 514 nm.Suite à ce développement, un banc de spectroscopie laser très compact a été mis en place, basé sur une courte cellule en quartz scellée, contenant une vapeur d’iode moléculaire. Une puissance optique < 10 mW dans le vert est suffisante pour détecter les transitions hyperfines de l’iode, de grand facteur de qualité au voisinage de 514 nm (Q > 2x109).Une stabilité de fréquence de 4,5 x 10-14 τ-1/2 avec un minimum de 6 x 10-15 de 50 s à 100 s a été démontrée dans le cadre de cette étude. Cette stabilité de fréquence constitue la meilleure performance jamais conférée à une source laser à 1,5 µm à l’aide d’une vapeur atomique, en utilisant une technique simple d’interrogation sub-Doppler.Cette étude a permis d’identifier les points clés permettant de mettre en place dans le futur proche, un dispositif laser stabilisé, totalement fibré, d’un volume < 10 litres.Ce développement pourrait répondre aux besoins de nombreux projets spatiaux nécessitant des liens optiques ultrastables en fréquence, inter-satellites ou bord-sol, pour la géodésie spatiale (GRICE), la mesure du champ gravitationnel terrestre (GRACE FO, NGGM), la détection d’ondes gravitationnelles (LISA), etc. … / This thesis describes the frequency stabilization of a 1.54 µm laser diode on an iodine hyperfine line at 514 nm, after a frequency tripling process.An important part of this work is dedicated to the development of the frequency tripling process of a 1.54 µm laser diode, using two periodically polled wave guided Lithium Niobate nonlinear crystals. A nonlinear conversion efficiency P3w/Pw > 36 % is obtained. This result is the best efficiency ever demonstrated for a CW frequency tripling process. 300 mW of harmonic power is generated at 514 nm from a fundamental optical power of 800 mW at 1.54 µm. The optical setup is fully fibered. The total power consumption of this frequency tripling process is 20 W only. Using a specific operation mode, this laser setup emits simultaneously three frequency-stabilized and intense radiations at 1.54 µm, 771 nm and 514 nm.Following this development, a very compact laser spectroscopy setup was built, based on a short sealed quartz cell, which contains the molecular iodine vapor. An optical power lower than 10 mW in the green is sufficient to carry out the iodine vapor interrogation, and to detect the hyperfine saturation transitions, which have a high quality factor around 514 nm (Q > 2x109).A frequency stability at the level of 4.5 x 10-14 τ-1/2 with a minimum value of 6 x 10-15 from 50 s to 100 s is demonstrated in this study. This frequency stability is the best result ever conferred to a laser diode at 1.54 µm, using in a simple way a Doppler-free iodine spectroscopy technique.This work has allowed to identify the major key components, in order to develop in the near future, a fully fibered and compact stabilized laser prototype occupying a total optical volume < 10 liters.Such a laser source could cover the needs of numerous space projects that require ultra-stable frequency optical links, inter-satellite or ground to space, for space geodesy (GRICE), Earth gravitational field measurement (GRACE-FO, NGGM), gravitational waves detection (LISA) , etc. …