Yoctosecond Timing Jitter Sensitivity in Tightly Synchronized Mode-Locked Ti:Sapphire Lasers

Higher sensitivity in timing jitter measurement has great importance in studies related to precise measurements. Timing jitter noise floors contribute one of the main parts in existing measurements. In this article, a phase error signal is obtained by superposition of outputs of two optical heterodyne discrimination apparatus to suppress the noise floor. Excess phase noise of the electrical amplifier is avoided. We demonstrate 2.6 x 10(-14) fs(2)/Hz (similar to 160 ys/root Hz) timing jitter noise floor between two identical 99 MHz repetition-rate mode-locked Ti:sapphire lasers after their repetition rates are tightly synchronized. The performance is extensible to reach an integrated timing jitter resolution of one attosecond.

Automated summary

This article discusses the importance of higher sensitivity in timing jitter measurement and presents a method to suppress timing jitter noise using a phase error signal. The authors demonstrate a very low timing jitter noise floor between two mode-locked lasers and suggest that the method can be further extended to achieve higher timing jitter resolution.