Stable Operation of Femtosecond Laser Frequency Combs with Uncertainty at the 10-17 Level toward Optical Frequency Standards

We have developed two femtosecond laser frequency combs (FLFCs) employing different designs and no external spectral broadening devices. The FLFCs referenced to a microwave standard were directly compared and confirmed to have a relative fractional uncertainty of 8.1 ×10-17 mainly due to imperfection in our comparison technique. They have also achieved uninterrupted daily operation typically more than 8 hours. They are found to be suitable for the optical standards from the absolute frequency measurement for a clock transition of 40Ca+ ions, that was recently performed in National Institute of Information and Communications Technology.

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