ZusammenfassungDas Wasserstoffatom (H) stellt ein einzigartiges System für Tests der Quanten-Elektrodynamik dar. Aufgrund seiner einfachen Struktur und genauen theoretischen Beschreibung liefert es außerdem wichtige Daten für die Bestimmung der RydbergKonstante R ∞ und des Proton-Ladungsradius r p im Rahmen der globalen Anpassung fundamentaler Konstanten durch das Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA). Im Jahre 2010 kam das sogenannte "proton size puzzle" auf, eine Diskrepanz von sieben Standardabweichungen zwischen CODATA und dem zehn mal genauer gemessenen Wert von r p in myonischem Wasserstoff (µ -p, [1, 2] AbstractThe hydrogen atom (H) is a unique system for tests of quantum electrodynamics (QED). Due to its simplicity and accurate theoretical description, it also provides key input data for the determination of the Rydberg constant R ∞ and the proton root mean square (r.m.s.) charge radius r p in the global adjustment of fundamental constants [4] by the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA). In the year 2010, the "proton size puzzle" emerged, which refers to a discrepancy of seven standard deviations between CODATA and a ten times more accurate measurement of r p in muonic hydrogen (µ -p, [1, 2]). Proposed solutions for this puzzle cover a wide range of scenarios, up to physics beyond the standard model [3]. This thesis reports on a novel scheme for high resolution spectroscopy of dipole allowed 2S -nP transitions in H, using a cryogenic beam of H atoms that are prepared in the meta-stable 2S F =0 1/2 state by state selective optical excitation. Such measurements can be used for a new determination of R ∞ and r p from H spectroscopy, shedding new light on the "proton size puzzle". The scheme has been applied to spectroscopy of the 2S-4P transition first, yielding: These values are as accurate as the ones determined from the aggregate world data of precision H spectroscopy (15 measurements) that enter the CODATA adjustment. While a discrepancy of 3.8 combined standard deviations is found to the latter, the presented results agree with the measurements in µ -p. The 2S-4P experiment is essentially unaffected by the systematic effects dominating the uncertainties in the previous most precise determinations of R ∞ using dipole forbidden two photon transitions in H. Instead, the main systematic effects are the first order Doppler effect, canceled by the use of an active fiber-based retroreflector (AFR) developed in this thesis, and line shape distortions due to quantum interference (QI) of neighboring atomic resonances. The latter effect has come to the attention of the precision spectroscopy community only recently [8,9]. Apparent QI line shifts have been studied experimentally, yielding the first direct observation in precision spectroscopy of largely separated atomic resonances. The observed shifts of up to ± 51 kHz are six times larger than the proton size discrepancy for the 2S-4P transition. They are brought under control by a suitable line shape model function, derived and...

Ultrasensitive detection of methane, isotopic carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, acetylene, and ethylene is performed in the spectral range 2.5-5 μm using intracavity spectroscopy in broadband optical parametric oscillators (OPOs). The OPOs were operated near degeneracy and synchronously pumped either by a mode-locked erbium (1560 nm) or thulium (2050 nm) fiber laser. A large instantaneous bandwidth of up to 800 cm −1 allows for simultaneous detection of several gases. We observe an effective path-length enhancement due to coherent interaction inside the OPO cavity and achieve part-per-billion sensitivity levels. The measured spectral shapes are in good agreement with a model that takes into account group delay dispersion across the broad OPO frequency band.

Synchronously-pumped ultrafast optical parametric oscillators are a generic technology capable of providing broadly-tunable high-repetition-rate ultrafast pulses across the visible and the infrared. Recent research in the authors' group and elsewhere has extended the performance of ultrafast optical parametric oscillators in terms of their pulse-energy, phasestability and other parameters such as their tunability. This article reviews the current status of ultrafast optical parametric oscillators, concentrating particularly on recent advances in energy scaling and carrier-envelope-phase stabilization techniques.

We report a high-energy extended-cavity MgO:PPLN optical parametric oscillator, synchronously-pumped by a femtosecond Yb:fiber laser. The oscillator operated at a signal wavelength of 1530 nm with a repetition-frequency of 15.3 MHz (9.8 m length) achieved using intracavity relay-imaging optics. The signal pulses had an average power above 1.0 W, durations of 1.5 ps and energies greater than 70 nJ, making it a potential source for rapid femtosecond waveguide inscription in infrared materials.

We present an active fiber-based retroreflector providing high quality phase-retracing anti-parallel Gaussian laser beams for precision spectroscopy of Doppler sensitive transitions. Our design is well-suited for a number of applications where implementing optical cavities is technically challenging and corner cubes fail to match the demanded requirements, most importantly retracing wavefronts and preservation of the laser polarization. To illustrate the performance of the system, we use it for spectroscopy of the 2S-4P transition in atomic hydrogen and demonstrate an average suppression of the first order Doppler shift to 4 parts in 10⁶ of the full collinear shift. This high degree of cancellation combined with our cryogenic source of hydrogen atoms in the metastable 2S state is sufficient to enable determinations of the Rydberg constant and the proton charge radius with competitive uncertainties. Advantages over the usual Doppler cancellation based on corner cube type retroreflectors are discussed as well as an alternative method using a high finesse cavity.