Continuous-wave molecular modulation using a high-finesse cavity

Abstract

We demonstrate an optical modulator at a frequency of 90 THz that has the capability to modulate any laser beam in the optical region of the spectrum. The modulator is constructed by placing deuterium molecules inside a high-finesse cavity and driving a vibrational transition with two continuous-wave laser beams. The two beams, the pump and the Stokes, are resonant with the cavity. The high intra-cavity intensities that build up drive the molecules to a coherent state. This molecular coherence can then be used to modulate an independent laser beam, to produce frequency up-shifted and down-shifted sidebands. The beam to be modulated is not resonant with the cavity and thus the sidebands are produced in a single pass.