Nonlinear phase noise generated in air–silica microstructure fiber and its effect on carrier-envelope phase

Abstract
We present measurements of the nonlinear phase noise that is due to amplitude-to-phase conversion in air–silica microstructure fiber that is utilized to broaden the frequency comb from a mode-locked femtosecond laser to an optical octave. When the octave of the continuum is employed to phase stabilize the laser-pulse train, this phase noise causes a change in the carrier-envelope phase of 3784-rad/nJ change in pulse energy. As a result, the jitter on the carrier-envelope phase that is due to fiber noise, from 0.03 Hz–55 kHz, is 0.5 rad.