Electro-optic frequency combs
Alexandre Parriaux, Kamal Hammani, G. Millot
Abstract
Frequency combs are optical spectra composed of a set of discrete equally spaced lines. Such spectra can be generated by diverse sources such as mode-locked lasers, resonators, or electro-optic modulators. This last possibility has shown a growing interest in the recent years for its advantageous features in providing high repetition rates, intrinsic mutual coherence, or high power per comb lines. Moreover, applications of electro-optic modulator-based combs have flourished in fundamental physics, spectroscopy, or instrumental calibrations. In this paper, we present the most recent progresses made on frequency combs generated by electro-optic modulators, along with the applications where these combs have shown a particular interest.