Ultra-low phase noise all-optical microwave generation setup based on commercial devices

In this paper, we present a very simple design based on commercial devices for the all-optical generation of ultra-low phase noise microwave signals. A commercial, fibered femtosecond laser is locked to a laser that is stabilized to a commercial ULE Fabry-Perot cavity. The 10 GHz microwave signal extracted from the femtosecond laser output exhibits a single sideband phase noise $\mathcal{L}(f)=-104 \ \mathrm{dBc}/\mathrm{Hz}$ at 1 Hz Fourier frequency, at the level of the best value obtained with such "microwave photonics" laboratory experiments \cite{Fortier2011}. Close-to-the-carrier ultra-low phase noise microwave signals will now be available in laboratories outside the frequency metrology field, opening up new possibilities in various domains.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. To be published in Applied Optics, early posting version available at http://www.opticsinfobase.org/ao/upcoming_pdf.cfm?id=23114

Nonaxisymmetric linear instability of cylindrical magnetohydrodynamic Taylor-Couette flow

We consider the nonaxisymmetric modes of instability present in Taylor-Couette flow under the application of helical magnetic fields, mainly for magnetic Prandtl numbers close to the inductionless limit, and conduct a full examination of marginal stability in the resulting parameter space. We allow for the azimuthal magnetic field to be generated by a combination of currents in the inner cylinder and fluid itself and introduce a parameter governing the relation between the strength of these currents. A set of governing eigenvalue equations for the nonaxisymmetric modes of instability are derived and solved by spectral collocation with Chebyshev polynomials over the relevant parameter space, with the resulting instabilities examined in detail. We find that by altering the azimuthal magnetic field profiles the azimuthal magnetorotational instability, nonaxisymmetric helical magnetorotational instability, and Tayler instability yield interesting dynamics, such as different preferred mode types and modes with azimuthal wave number m>1 . Finally, a comparison is given to the recent WKB analysis performed by Kirillov et al. [Kirillov, Stefani, and Fukumoto, J. Fluid Mech. 760, 591 (2014)] and its validity in the linear regime

Controlling the Frequency-Temperature Sensitivity of a Cryogenic Sapphire Maser Frequency Standard by Manipulating Fe3+ Spins in the Sapphire Lattice

To create a stable signal from a cryogenic sapphire maser frequency standard, the frequency-temperature dependence of the supporting Whispering Gallery mode must be annulled. We report the ability to control this dependence by manipulating the paramagnetic susceptibility of Fe3+ ions in the sapphire lattice. We show that the maser signal depends on other Whispering Gallery modes tuned to the pump signal near 31 GHz, and the annulment point can be controlled to exist between 5 to 10 K depending on the Fe3+ ion concentration and the frequency of the pump. This level of control has not been achieved previously, and will allow improvements in the stability of such devices.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure

Ultra-Low Noise Microwave Extraction from Fiber-Based Optical Frequency Comb

In this letter, we report on all-optical fiber approach to the generation of ultra-low noise microwave signals. We make use of two erbium fiber mode-locked lasers phase locked to a common ultra-stable laser source to generate an 11.55 GHz signal with an unprecedented relative phase noise of -111 dBc/Hz at 1 Hz from the carrier.The residual frequency instability of the microwave signals derived from the two optical frequency combs is below 2.3 10^(-16) at 1s and about 4 10^(-19) at 6.5 10^(4)s (in 5 Hz bandwidth, three days continuous operation).Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

ELISA: a cryocooled 10 GHz oscillator with 10-15 frequency stability

This article reports the design, the breadboarding and the validation of an ultra-stable Cryogenic Sapphire Oscillator operated in an autonomous cryocooler. The objective of this project was to demonstrate the feasibility of a frequency stability of 3x10-15 between 1 s and 1,000 s for the European Space Agency deep space stations. This represents the lowest fractional frequency instability ever achieved with cryocoolers. The preliminary results presented in this paper validate the design we adopted for the sapphire resonator, the cold source and the oscillator loop.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figure

Active region formation through the negative effective magnetic pressure instability

The negative effective magnetic pressure instability operates on scales encompassing many turbulent eddies and is here discussed in connection with the formation of active regions near the surface layers of the Sun. This instability is related to the negative contribution of turbulence to the mean magnetic pressure that causes the formation of large-scale magnetic structures. For an isothermal layer, direct numerical simulations and mean-field simulations of this phenomenon are shown to agree in many details in that their onset occurs at the same depth. This depth increases with increasing field strength, such that the maximum growth rate of this instability is independent of the field strength, provided the magnetic structures are fully contained within the domain. A linear stability analysis is shown to support this finding. The instability also leads to a redistribution of turbulent intensity and gas pressure that could provide direct observational signatures.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Solar Physic

Dielectric properties of La3Ga5SiO14La_{3}Ga_{5}SiO_{14} at microwave frequencies between 10K and 400K

We report measurements of dielectric permittivity and dielectric losses at microwave frequencies of Lanthanum Gallium Silicate as a function of temperature. The dielectric rod resonator method was used to evaluate the two relative permittivity tensor components eps t and eps z of this uniaxial dielectric crystal. Between 10 and 400 K, eps t varies from 18.92 to 19.65 whereas eps z ranges from 60.81 to 46.66. Around 300 K, the temperature coefficients of eps t and eps z have opposite signs and are equal to 130 and -720 ppm/K, respectively. This characteristic enables one to design a self-compensated microwave resonator presenting a low frequency temperature sensitivity. For the measured dielectric sample the dielectric losses range from 10-4 to 5.10-6 between 300 and 20 K and are actually limited by the crystal quality