Fundamental thermal noise in antiresonant hollow-core fibers
Fundamental thermal noise in antiresonant hollow-core fibers
Fluctuations of the optical length induced by fundamental thermal noise are known to set the ultimate phase resolution of fiber-based interferometers. Although this noise has been studied in detail for optical fibers made of solid glass material, its impact on the performance of hollow-core optical fibers has not yet been assessed. In such fibers, the guided light interacts only weakly with the glass material whose thermal and thermo-optic properties normally determine the thermal noise level, suggesting that a difference in performance should be expected. Based on the comparison of several interferometers optimized for phase sensitivity, we present measurements of thermal noise in the 20 to 200 kHz range in hollow-core nested antiresonant nodeless fibers (NANF) with their core filled with air at different pressures. In this frequency range, our measurements are in good agreement with the adapted thermoconductive noise model we introduce, suggesting that the thermo-optic contribution from the gas that fills the core is generally dominant, regardless of the exact hollow-core fiber design. While we show that an antiresonant hollow-core fiber filled with air at atmospheric pressure is noisier at 1550 nm than a silica fiber of equal optical length and mode-field area, we also demonstrate the lowest thermal noise power per unit optical length ever measured in a fiber (≈1.3×10-17(rad2/Hz)/m at 30 kHz) using a large-mode-area NANF evacuated and sealed at 0.15 atm. In addition to lowering the internal pressure, we predict that the noise density in this spectral range can be reduced by filling the core with a low-polarizability noble gas. Our results indicate that low-loss antiresonant hollow-core fibers can compete with ultrastable cavities for the purpose of laser frequency stabilization; when evacuated, such fibers should constitute the best option to significantly decrease the fundamental noise floor in interferometric applications currently based on conventional solid-core fibers.
Michaud-Belleau, Vincent
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Numkam Fokoua, Eric
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Horak, Peter
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Wheeler, Natalie
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Rikimi, Shuichiro
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Bradley, Thomas D.
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Richardson, David J.
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Poletti, Francesco
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Genest, Jérôme
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Slavík, Radan
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1 August 2022
Michaud-Belleau, Vincent
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Numkam Fokoua, Eric
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Horak, Peter
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Wheeler, Natalie
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Rikimi, Shuichiro
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Bradley, Thomas D.
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Richardson, David J.
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Poletti, Francesco
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Genest, Jérôme
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Slavík, Radan
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Michaud-Belleau, Vincent, Numkam Fokoua, Eric, Horak, Peter, Wheeler, Natalie, Rikimi, Shuichiro, Bradley, Thomas D., Richardson, David J., Poletti, Francesco, Genest, Jérôme and Slavík, Radan
(2022)
Fundamental thermal noise in antiresonant hollow-core fibers.
Physical Review A, 106 (2), [023501].
(doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.106.023501).
Abstract
Fluctuations of the optical length induced by fundamental thermal noise are known to set the ultimate phase resolution of fiber-based interferometers. Although this noise has been studied in detail for optical fibers made of solid glass material, its impact on the performance of hollow-core optical fibers has not yet been assessed. In such fibers, the guided light interacts only weakly with the glass material whose thermal and thermo-optic properties normally determine the thermal noise level, suggesting that a difference in performance should be expected. Based on the comparison of several interferometers optimized for phase sensitivity, we present measurements of thermal noise in the 20 to 200 kHz range in hollow-core nested antiresonant nodeless fibers (NANF) with their core filled with air at different pressures. In this frequency range, our measurements are in good agreement with the adapted thermoconductive noise model we introduce, suggesting that the thermo-optic contribution from the gas that fills the core is generally dominant, regardless of the exact hollow-core fiber design. While we show that an antiresonant hollow-core fiber filled with air at atmospheric pressure is noisier at 1550 nm than a silica fiber of equal optical length and mode-field area, we also demonstrate the lowest thermal noise power per unit optical length ever measured in a fiber (≈1.3×10-17(rad2/Hz)/m at 30 kHz) using a large-mode-area NANF evacuated and sealed at 0.15 atm. In addition to lowering the internal pressure, we predict that the noise density in this spectral range can be reduced by filling the core with a low-polarizability noble gas. Our results indicate that low-loss antiresonant hollow-core fibers can compete with ultrastable cavities for the purpose of laser frequency stabilization; when evacuated, such fibers should constitute the best option to significantly decrease the fundamental noise floor in interferometric applications currently based on conventional solid-core fibers.
Text
NANF_thermoconductive__AIP_ (1)
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 12 July 2022
Published date: 1 August 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
V.M.-B. acknowledges support from the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship program. E.R.N.F. and R.S. acknowledge support of RAEng research and senior fellowships, respectively. N.V.W. acknowledges support of a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (UF140538).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Physical Society.
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 468509
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/468509
ISSN: 1050-2947
PURE UUID: 4ea1b796-679e-4d93-8e19-8a8c015bf762
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Date deposited: 17 Aug 2022 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:32
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Contributors
Author:
Vincent Michaud-Belleau
Author:
Eric Numkam Fokoua
Author:
Peter Horak
Author:
Natalie Wheeler
Author:
Shuichiro Rikimi
Author:
Thomas D. Bradley
Author:
Francesco Poletti
Author:
Jérôme Genest
Author:
Radan Slavík
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