Dual-frequency solid-state lasers for optical and microwave telecommunications

Summary form only given. Radio-on-fiber applications require the use of local oscillators in the GHz range carried by an optical frequency. Such a GHz modulation can be directly created by the beat note of the two eigenstates of the laser. Usually lasers are designed to oscillate in a single state of polarization. However, in the general case, a laser exhibits two polarization eigenstates. Here we make use of these two eigenstates to build lasers emitting two frequencies. The generated beat note lies in the GHz range in the case of single-axis lasers and can reach THz frequencies by using two-axis cavities.