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Program Leader
John Bernard
Phone: 613-993-2181
Fax: 613-952-1394
Email: John.Bernard@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Optical Frequency/Wavelength
The Optical Frequency Standards laboratory provides accurate measurements of the frequency of electromagnetic radiation in the optical region of the spectrum and develops frequency-stable optical sources. The laboratory maintains the SI metre for Canada through the vacuum wavelength of an ensemble of iodine-stabilized helium-neon lasers at 633 nm or 474 THz and through direct measurements of optical frequency/vacuum wavelength by means of an optical frequency comb.
Maintaining the SI unit of length
For almost fifty years, the optical wavelength of light has been used as the reference in high-accuracy measurements of absolute length. Several kinds of light sources can be used, including electrically-excited gaseous discharge tubes and stabilized lasers. In these measurements, a device called an optical interferometer is used to compare the length of an object to the known wavelength of the light source. [More]
Optical frequency standard based on a single trapped ion
At NRC, the Optical Frequency Standards (OFS) Project has developed an optical frequency standard, based on a single, trapped and laser cooled strontium-88(88Sr) ion. [More]
Research within the Optical Frequency Standards Project at NRC is concerned with the accurate measurement of the frequency of electromagnetic radiation in the optical region of the spectrum and with the development of frequency-stable optical sources. [More]
