Continuous-Wave Light Modulation at Molecular Frequencies

Joshua J. Weber, David Gold, Deniz D. Yavuz

Shin-ichi Zaitsu

Joshua J. Weber

E. Garmire, F. Pandarese, Charles Hard Townes

Deniz D. Yavuz

We suggest a technique where a molecular Raman transition is prepared near a maximally coherent state with continuous-wave (CW) laser beams. The key idea is to put the molecules inside a high-finesse cavity and to drive the molecular transition with two lasers whose frequency difference is slightly detuned from the Raman resonance. In this regime, the molecules become very efficient CW modulators with a modulation frequency that can be as high as $100\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{THz}$.

Jonathan Tyler Green, Joshua J. Weber, Deniz D. Yavuz

By using continuous-wave (CW)--stimulated Raman scattering inside a high-finesse cavity, we generate three CW spectral components covering about one octave of optical bandwidth. We investigate the mutual coherence of these three beams by studying phase-dependent second harmonic generation. From the high contrast of the observed interference fringes, we infer very good phase coherence across the spectrum and thereby infer the synthesis of a near single-cycle optical wave form.