Exploiting shot noise correlations in the photodetection of ultrashort optical pulse trains

• DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2013.33
• Publication Date: 2013-03-08T13:27:07Z
• Authors: F. Quinlan; T. M. Fortier; H. Jiang; A. Hati; C. Nelson; Y. Fu; J. C. Campbell; S. A. Diddams
• Keywords: Quantum noise; Noise generator

Shot noise originates from the discrete nature of optical field detection. By exploiting correlations in the shot-noise spectrum of optical pulse trains, scientists improve shot-noise-limited optical pulse timing measurements by several orders of magnitude. A photodetected pulse train timing noise floor at an unprecedented 25 zs Hz−1/2 is reported.