GigaFemto · Towards matchbox-size GHz femtosecond lasers for frequency combs generation: ‘a femtosecond laser fabricating a femtosecond laser’

Femtosecond laser GHz cavity lasers has enabled a new type of optical frequency comb that have defined a new standard and a universal method for precisely measuring optical frequencies measuring. This quantum leap in metrology unravelled numerous technological innovations, from more precise atomic clocks to unprecedented data-transmission flowrate in telecoms. So far, optical frequency-comb systems remain table-top size and expensive, an impediment for further adoptions of this major technological break-through. Here, we propose a novel concept of monolithic, miniaturized – matchbox size - femtosecond laser GHz cavity, in which all the optical functions are integrated in a same substrate, including active functions requiring active tuning or electro-optics effects. This concept relies on femtosecond laser machining combined with post-processing methods to fabricate this optical cavity and to perform the fine alignment required for proper laser operation. It defines a new paradigm where ‘a femtosecond laser is used to fabricate and tune another femtosecond laser’. Specifically, GigaFemto aim at 1/ demonstrating the first all-in-glass femtosecond GHz cavity, of matchbox size, fabricated and tuned by another femtosecond lasers and 2/ laying the seeds for a commercial exploitation by a spin-off company of our laboratory. The later will include a market analysis and a thorough precompetitive study.