Optical frequency combs (OFC) provide a convenient reference for thefrequency stabilization of continuous-wave lasers. We demonstrate a frequencycontrol method relying on tracking over a wide range and stabilizing the beatnote between the laser and the OFC. The approach combines fast frequency rampson a millisecond timescale in the entire mode-hop free tuning range of thelaser and precise stabilization to single frequencies. We apply it to acommercially available optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and demonstratetuning over more than 60 GHz with a ramping speed up to 3 GHz/ms. Frequencyramps spanning 15 GHz are performed in less than 10 ms, with the OPO instantlyrelocked to the OFC after the ramp at any desired frequency. The developedcontrol hardware and software is able to stabilize the OPO to sub-MHz precisionand to perform sequences of fast frequency ramps automatically.
展开▼