Unit for stabilizing optical frequency combs

Optical frequency synthesizers (femtosecond combs) are used mainly in the field of precise measurement of optical frequencies, laser spectroscopy and interferometer distance surveying. The repetition and offset frequencies belong to main controlled parameters of such synthesizer. These two parameters need to be locked to ultra-stable frequency standards i.e. H-masers, Cs- or Rb- clocks. We present the complete digital signal processing chain for phase-locked loop (PLL) control of the repetition and offset frequency. The setup is able to overcome some dropouts causes the femtosecond laser instabilities. The presented work gives the possibility of long-time operation of femtosecond combs which is necessary when the optical frequency stability measurement of ultra-stable lasers is performed