jason jones

Ultrafast Optical Science and Precision Optical Frequency Metrology

Prof. R. Jason Jones (CV)

Office: Meinel #625 (West Wing)

Labs: Meinel #578 and #576 College of Optical Science

Research Interests

Our research spans the fields of ultrafast optical science and precision optical frequency metrology. The phase stabilization of ultrafast mode-locked lasers has revolutionized the accurate measurement of optical frequencies and made feasible the prospect of atomic clocks of unsurpassed stability based on optical transitions. Such precision measurements of time and frequency are of fundamental importance to physics; leading to the improved determination of physical constants, accurate testing of relativistic and QED calculations of atomic energies, and enabling for the first time laboratory-based tests of possible temporal variations of the fine structure constant. The development of the frequency comb has simultaneously provided precise control over the temporal oscillations of the optical field, opening new frontiers in ultrafast science and enabling attosecond studies of dynamical processes.

Our current work focuses on the development and use of stabilized femtosecond laser systems in optical frequency metrology and as novel sources for spectroscopic and nonlinear optics experiments. Until very recently all such research utilizing the precision of fs frequency combs has been concentrated in the visible to IR or microwave portions of the spectrum. We plan to build upon this work and extend precision fs comb-based spectroscopy into the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV, < 150 nm), with the long-term possibility of future atomic clocks based on extremely high-Q transitions in this spectral region. The continuing development of “fs enhancement cavities”- passive Fabry-Perot cavities designed to support ultrashort pulses- allows high field strengths to build up inside the external cavity while still maintaining the original coherence properties of the laser. The enhanced pulse energy inside the external cavity allows for investigations of extreme light-matter interactions and upconversion of the laser light into the VUV through the highly nonlinear process of high-harmonic generation (HHG).