A recirculating delayed self-heterodyne method using a Mach-Zehnder modulator for kHz-linewidth measurement

A laser linewidth measurement method which uses a Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulator (MZM) is proposed in a loss-compensated recirculating delayed self-heterodyne interferometer (LC-RDSHI). Compared with the traditional acousto-optic modulator (AOM), the electro-optic modulator has the merits of broader bandwidth, lower insertion loss, higher extinction ratio and thus, a wider application. A theoretical analysis shows that the power spectrum curve of the novel measurement system is a Lorentzian line, which fits well with experiment. The linewidth is measured to be 137 +/- 7 kHz at a frequency shift of 4 GHz. Measurement of a distributed feedback Bragg (DFB) laser has manifested that the linewidth broadens from 98.5 kHz to 137.4 kHz as the operating temperature changes by 16 degrees C. This work will allow investigation of narrow linewidth semiconductor and fiber laser stability. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.