Second-harmonic generation of an optical frequency comb at 1.55 μm with periodically poled lithium niobate

To expand the span of the optical frequency comb (OFC), we generated the second harmonics of an OFC at 1.55 mu m, using a multiperiod periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal. A coupled-cavity OFC generator with an average output power of 0.2 mW was amplified and expanded with a fiber amplifier and a dispersion-flattened fiber. The fundamental OFC average power and span were 100 mW and 45 THz, respectively. The second-harmonic comb's span was 3.2 THz; however, we tuned the center frequency over 30 THz by changing the poling period. We also demonstrated that the second-harmonic comb can be used for frequency-difference measurement. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America.