Astrocombs

Frequency combs with

astrophysical applications

By David C. Petit

1
 Overview

●
What astrocombs are used for
– Radial velocity method in the detection
of exoplanets
– Spectrograph calibration
●
What Astrocombs are
– A frequency comb for astronomy Figure 1: A Frequency Comb (FC) [2]

– History
– Current use and operation
– Future outlook [1]

Figure 2: The Origin of the FC Name, a Hair Comb [3]

2
 Motivation – Why astrocombs are important

●
Earth is one of thousands of known
planets, and one of probably trillions
of unknown planets
●
Astrocombs help astronomers find
new planets
– Radial velocity method

Note: All astronomical figures herein

are NOT to scale

Figure 3: Orbital motion of a two-body system [4]

3
 The Radial Velocity Method

●
Stars orbit the center of
mass of their system
●
From our perspective, this is
seen as a moving towards
and away, and is called the
star’s radial velocity
– Changes in radial
velocity appear as
redshifts and blueshifts
in light

Figure 4: Radial velocity changes – emission & detection [5]

4
 Redshifting

●
When an object moves away
from an observer and emits
light towards that observer,
that light is redshifted
●
The amount the light is
redshifted indicates the
speed at which the object is
moving away
– The expanding universe

Figure 5: Emitted and redshifted spectra [6]

5
 Doppler Shifts

●
Redshifting is a commonly seen
from distant objects
●
Blueshifting is sometimes seen
from closer objects [7]
●
The location of absorption lines
indicates which one is
occurring [8]

Figure 6: Spectral changes from Doppler shifts [9]

6
 Radial Velocity Method in action

●
A star orbiting the center of
its system’s mass will
oscillate between redshifting
and blueshifting
●
The rate of change in the
spectra tells astronomers
about the characteristics of
the planet
●
Small and slow-orbiting
planets cause little change
– Hard to detect Figure 7: Doppler shift from stellar orbit [10]

7
 Spectroscopy: Theory to Observatory
●
Some of the light travels to earth and
enters a spectrograph
●
Grating spectrographs – Industry
standard [11]
– A close up is seen here, and the
following relation determines the
angles of the light’s reflection

m λ=d⋅(sin (α )+sin( β))

– m = order of interference (1, 2,...)
– λ = wavelength
– d = distance between grooves
– α and β are incoming and outgoing
angles of light Figure 8: Grating spectrograph reflection [11]
9
 Spectroscopy: Calibration

●
Currently, wavelength calibration
of astronomical spectrographs
uses:
●
Light of spectral emission lamps
– Th/Ar, He, Ne, Hg, etc.

●
Absorption cells
– Molecular absorption gas
cells: Iodine, HCN, 12C2H2,
12
CO, and 13CO [12]
– Maps the dispersion function
of the spectrograph.

●
These sources have worked quite
Figure 10: ThAr Calibration on a spectrograph [13]
well for decades
11
Spectroscopy: Calibration

●
Like using a laser pointer
instead of a meter stick in a
presentation, there are better
technologies now
●
Astrocombs are a revolution
in the calibration of
spectrographs
●
Astrocombs overcome their
weaknesses of irregular line
spacing and strengths [14]

Figure 9: Thorium Argon Emission Lines [15]

10
 Astrocombs

●
Big planets pull on their
stars hard
●
Small planets require very
sensitive spectroscopic
measurements
●
Astrocombs give
astronomers a new level of
accuracy
– Regular consistent
spacing, smooth
changes in strength
Figure 11: Frequency comb calibration [16]

12
 Frequency combs

●
Frequency combs are lasers that
emit at regular intervals over a
range of wavelengths
●
Mathematically simple to
describe:

f n=nf f +f 0
– n is an integer
– ff is the comb tooth spacing Figure 12: Frequency Comb visualization [17]

– f0 is the offset frequency

13
 Herr, T. & McCracken, R. A.
Astrocombs: Recent Advances (Dec 2019)

●
We are now ready to tackle
the paper!
●
The 2017 paper for additional
reference
●
Requirements of astrocombs:
– Comb line spacing: >10
GHz
– Wavelength coverage:
400- to 2400+ nm
– Low-maintenance
operation [1]
Figure 13: Examples of astrocombs [1]

14
 Astrocomb #1: Filtered Mode-Locked Lasers

●
The most common and most
studied astrocomb
– Quite user friendly
●
Recall the Pulsed Laser
Operation paper from the
first assignment
[18]=[Roelens &
Spoormans, 2020]
●
Use Fabry-Pérot etalons to
neutralize some pulses,
spacing out the others Figure 14: Fabry-Pérot etalons spacing pulses apart [19]

– Difficult in large ranges

●
In use in Germany and
China [1]
15
 Astrocomb #2: High-Repetition Rate Mode-
Locked Lasers

●
Mode-filtering can be a difficult
process
●
Kerr-lens modelocking can
achieve high comb line spacing
●
New technology
– Signal / noise is still being
researched
– Long-term use and
durability is unknown [1]

Figure 15: Frequency comb generation over visible range [20]

16
 Astrocomb #3: Electro-Optic Modulation
Combs

●
Robust phase-modulation of
continuous-wave lasers
●
Compression of the chirped
waveform into pulses using
waveshapers
●
One of the simplest
approaches to comb
generation
– Imprints the phase
noise of the microwave
source onto the optical
Figure 16: Microwave and lasers generate frequency combs [21]
comb lines [1]

17
 Astrocomb #4: Microresonator Kerr
Frequency Combs

●
Excellent spacing, tens of
GHz
●
Ideal for space
– Compact
– Low power
consumption
●
New technology
– Not in large-scale use
– Proof-of-concept
stage [1]
Figure 17: Microresonator of Kerr Frequency Comb [22]

18
 Astrocomb #5: Four-Wave Mixing of
Continuous-Wave Lasers in Fibers
●
The mixing of two CW lasers to make ●
Currently hamstrung by low-
new laser frequencies resolution limits
●
By far the largest line spacing – Possible solution: Phase-locking
– > 100 GHz ranges the pump lasers to an auxiliary
self-referenced low-repetition
– A function of the original lasers rate frequency comb [1]
used

Figure 18: Four-

wave mixing
Figure 19: Four-
setup for
wave mixing
frequency comb
model [23]
generation [14]

19
A second look at current Astrocombs

Figure 13: Examples of Astrocombs [1]

20
Frequency combs – Other uses

●
Beyond the scope of the paper and this
presentation
– Optical clocks: Time keeping devices
– Ranging and LIDAR
– Tuned lasers
– Molecular spectroscopy
– Waveform generation
– Low phase noise microwave generation Figure 20: A clock comparison experiment [25]
[24]

21
 Astrocombs – A future outlook

04
Observe stars Use technology
Integetrate astrocombs into
The observation is the
spectroscopic procedure for
astronomer’s experiment
most accurate results
01 03

Obtain spectra Find planets

Doppler shifts are seen in
Mass, distance, and orbital
the oscillations of
absorption & emission lines
02 period can be derived

22
 References [14] Zajnulina, M.. (2015). Generation of optical frequency combs via four-wave
mixing processes for low- and medium-resolution astronomy. Applied Physics
B. 120. 10.1007/s00340-015-6121-1.
[15] Smithsonian Astrophyical Observatory – Telescopoe Data Center, TRES
[1] Herr, Tobias & McCracken, Richard. (2019). Astrocombs: Recent
Echelle Spectrograph. Thorium Argon Emission Lines, http://tdc-
Advances. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters. PP. 1-1.
www.harvard.edu/instruments/tres/thar/
10.1109/LPT.2019.2950528.
[16] Cooper, Keith. An example of the spectrum from two laser frequency combs,
[2] Johnson, Todd & Diddams, Scott; Tunable Mid-IR Frequency Comb for
with their evenly spaced emission lines. (Courtesy: ESO). physicsworld.com/
Molecular Spectroscopy. National Institute of Standards and Technology.
a/optical-astrocomb-could-boost-searches-for-earth-like-planets/
Boulder, CO. https://slideplayer.com/slide/7775614/
[17] Diddams, Scott A.; Vahala, Kerry; Udem, Thomas; Optical frequency combs:
[3] Li, Hong. A plastic comb for styling and combing hair flat vector icon for apps and
Coherently uniting the electromagnetic spectrum. Science 17 Jul 2020-D,
websites. Image ID: 82111247. www.123rf.com/photo_82111247
science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6501/eaay3676
[4] Rnt20, user; File:Planet reflex sm.gif;
[18] Roelens & Spoormans. (2020). Pulsed Laser Operation. KU Leuven – Fall
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Planet_reflex_sm.gif 18 September 2007
semester – Lasers and Laser Spectroscopy
[5] S. Udry, et al., The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets. Astronomy &
[19] Matsumoto, Hirokazu & Takamasu, Kiyoshi. (2015). Automatic Recording
Astrophysics, 6 May 2007 - ESO eso0722e, Artwork. 25 April 2007
Absolute Length-Measuring System with Fast Optical-Comb Fiber
[6] Sundqvist, Jon; Radiative Processes in Astronomy, KU Leuven Fall 2020 Semester.
Interferometer. International Journal of Automation Technology. 9. 482-486.
http://www.jonsundqvist.com/
10.20965/ijat.2015.p0482.
[7] Gay, Pamela & Cain, Fraser. Astronomy Cast, Episode 279 – Hubble Constant
[20] Gorodetsky, Michael. (2018). Physicists devise a way to turn cheap diode
www.astronomycast.com/2012/12/ep-279-hubble-constant/ December 2012
lasers into single-frequency ones suitable for portable chemical analyzers
[8] Wright, Edward L. University of California Los Angeles.
and other applications. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. mipt.ru/
www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/doppler.htm 23-Feb-2002
english/news/
[9] Doppler shift, Image; Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica.
[21] Victor Torres-Company. (2018). Electro-optic combs rise above the noise.
https://www.britannica.com/science/redshift#/media/1/494505/141128. December,
Science 28 Sep 2018 : 1316. Vol. 361, Issue 6409, pp. 1316 DOI:
2020
10.1126/science.aau7507
[10] ESA, The radial velocity method: PLATO – Revealing habitable worlds around solar-
[22] Fujii, S., & Tanabe, T. (2020). Dispersion engineering and measurement of
like stars, Definition Study Report, ESA-SCI(2017) #1. 1 April 2017 platomission.com/
whispering gallery mode microresonator for Kerr frequency comb
2018/05/20/the-radial-velocity-method/
generation, Nanophotonics, 9(5), 1087-1104. doi:
[11] Van Winckel, Hans. (2020). Observational Techniques in Astronomy. Institute of
https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2019-0497
Astronomy, KU Leuven. Autumn semester 2020
[23] Thiel, Charles. (2000). Four-Wave Mixing and its Applications. Montana State
[12] Mahadevan, Suvrath & Ge, Jian. (2008). On The Use of Absorption Cells as a
University. www.researchgate.net/publication/241258853_Four-
Wavelength Reference for Precision Radial Velocity Measurements in the Near
Wave_Mixing_and_its_Applications
Infrared. ApJ. 692. 10.1088/0004-637X/692/2/1590.
[24] Newbury, Nathan (2015) Fundamentals of Optical Frequency Comb
[13] Burwitz, Vadim. (2007). BACHES A Compact Light-Weight Echelle Spectrograph for
Technology and Applications – Keck Institute for Space Studies. NIST.
Amateur Astronomy. 62 The Messenger 129 – September 2007 Astronomical News.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8PaLepo1Pg
January 2007
[25] Kramer, Herbert J. (2002) "Observation of the Earth and Its Environment:
Survey of Missions and Sensors" (Springer Verlag)
24
 The End
Are there any
questions?