Date of Completion

7-14-2015

Embargo Period

7-14-2015

Keywords

lithium niobate tapered laser amplifier nanosecond phase intensity modulator

Major Advisor

Phillip L. Gould

Associate Advisor

Robin Côté

Associate Advisor

George N. Gibson

Field of Study

Physics

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Open Access

Open Access

Abstract

A system for producing phase-and amplitude-shaped pulses on a timescale of 150 ps to 10 ns has been developed using fiber-coupled lithium niobate phase and amplitude modulators with high-speed electronics (4 GHz). The pulses are then amplified in a double-pass tapered amplifier. Various pulse shapes have been tested, such as exponential intensity, linear frequency chirp with Gaussian intensity, and arctan-plus-linear frequency chirp with double-Gaussian pulses. We have also realized a scheme for generating arbitrary frequency chirps with a fiber loop and a technique for producing arbitrary line spectra using serrodyne modulation. The residual phase modulation produced by the intensity modulator was investigated. Experiments that may benefit from the new system are discussed, such as chirped Raman transfer and ultracold molecule formation.

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