A low-noise fiber frequency comb is demonstrated to improve the frequency accuracy and linewidth by suppressing the phase noise caused by the nonlinear self-phase modulation as well as the amplified spontaneous emission within the Er-doped fiber amplifier. The linewidth of the carrier-envelop- offset signal measures less than 1.9 mHz and the frequency stability well follows the reference Rb clock. This achievement will facilitate the use of the fiber frequency comb for industrial applications to precision near-infrared spectroscopy, frequency calibration, optical clocks and length metrology.

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In this paper, we report a gauge block (GB) calibration that is traceable to the SI unit of time, the second. Four ultra-stable optical telecommunication wavelengths near 1556 nm are obtained by locking a narrow-tuning-range fiber laser to a fiber-based femtosecond frequency comb. Since the GB calibration system does not operate at this region of spectrum, the superior frequency stability of the laser is transferred to the 778 nm region by using a waveguide periodically poled lithium niobate crystal. After applying the locking scheme, the stability and accuracy of the laser become better than 8×10(-12). The frequency-doubled light is sent through 30 m optical fiber to a GB interferometer, which is installed at a different laboratory in the same building. Using this calibration scheme, a GB with a nominal length of 100 mm is calibrated with an uncertainty of ±52  nm. This uncertainty value is still comparable to or even better than other metrology laboratories for a similar block length.

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Lasers from five national metrological institutes (NMIs) were brought to the BIPM in November 2006 as part of the BIPM.L-K11 ongoing key comparison initiated by the Comité Consultative des Longueurs (CCL) 11th meeting in 2003. The absolute frequency of the f component of the R(127) 11-5 transition was measured for these lasers following the Protocol for BIPM.L-K11. The results of these measurements are compiled in the present paper. The comparison reports, as communicated by each participant, are included as Appendices.Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/.The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCL, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).