Absolute frequency measurement and high resolution spectroscopy of In 5sS0-5s5p P0 narrowline transition

We measure the frequency of the 5s²¹S₀-5s5p ³P₀ narrowline clock transition at 236.5 nm, for a single, trapped and laser cooled ¹¹⁵In⁺ ion. In the experiment, an ultra-narrow linewidth laser (<1.34 Hz at 3 s integration time) is used to interrogate the clock transition for high resolution spectroscopy. A linewidth of 43 Hz of the clock transition is observed. The uncertainty of the line centroid is 18 Hz, leading to a fractional uncertainty of 1.4×10^-14. The frequency is measured by using an optical frequency comb referenced to a cesium clock. The transition frequency is found to be 1, 267, 402, 452, 901.265 (256) kHz, averaged over 13 days of separate measurement. The accuracy of 2.35×10^-13 is due to the reference cesium clock calibrated against UTC time. We discuss ways for further improvements.     

Improved absolute frequency measurement of the 115In+ 5s2 1S0-5s5p3P0 narrowline transition: Progress towards an optical frequency standard

We report on an improved absolute frequency measurement of the 5s ^{2 1} S ₀0-5s5p ³ P ₀ narrowline clock transition at 236.5 nm, for a single, trapped, and laser-cooled ¹¹⁵In ion. Using a narrowline laser as the local oscillator, a linewidth of 43 Hz for the transition is resolved. The uncertainty of the transition frequency’s centroid is 18 Hz, leading to a fractional uncertainty of 1.4 × 10⁻¹⁴. For absolute frequency measurement, we use an optical frequency comb locked to a cesium clock as the reference. The transition frequency is found to be 1267402452900967(63) Hz, averaged over 13 days of separate measurements. The accuracy is about 5.0 × 10⁻¹⁴. We discuss possibilities for further improvement. Original Text ? Astro, Ltd., 2007.     

铯原子调制转移光谱在激光稳频中的应用

利用铯原子D₂线的调制转移光谱的鉴频特性,实现了光栅外腔式主振荡器-功率放大型(MOPA)半导体激光器相对于铯原子6²S_1/2F=4→6²P_3/2 F’=5超精细跃迁的偏频锁定,在100 ms内激光频率的相对起伏小于±280 kHz.相对于一般的饱和吸收锁频方法而言,调制转移光谱在锁频中的应用不仅彻底消除了Doppler背景对锁频的影响,而且还避免了对激光器直接进行频率扰动而带来的附加频率噪音.     

Laser frequency stabilization using a balanced bi-polarimeter

We report on a Doppler-free polarization spectroscopy based technique of laser frequency stabilization using a balanced bi-polarimeter set-up. Two linearly polarized weak laser beams are used to probe birefringence induced by two oppositely circularly polarized strong pump beams in a vapour cell. Subtraction of balanced polarimeter signals obtained from the two probe beams results in a background-free dispersion-like reference signal without frequency modulation. The dispersion-like signal corresponding to the closed transition 5 ² S _1/2 (F=2) →5 ² P _3/2 (F^′=3) of ⁸⁷Rb was used for frequency locking of a diode laser. The frequency fluctuations and the drift were measured to be less than 0.25 MHz and 0.02 MHz, respectively, for an observation period of more than 10 hours. PACS 42.62.Fi; 42.55.Px; 32.30.-r     

Optical-to-microwave frequency chain utilizing a two-laser-based optical parametric oscillator network

A method for building an optical-to-microwave frequency chain and for measuring optical frequencies relative to the cesium primary frequency standard is described. Based on optical frequency division via parametric oscillators, the concept is to generate two known ratios (1/2 and 4/9) of an optical calibration frequencyf ₁ whose frequency difference is measured relative to the cesium clock. The (1/2) ratio is obtained by either a 2:1 frequency division off ₁ or second-harmonic generation of (l/2)f ₁. The (4/9) ratio off ₁ can be generated with a 3:1 frequency divider driven by a second laser atf ₂ that is chosen to be near (2/3)f ₁, which in turn is obtained with af ₁-pumped 3:1 frequency divider. A set of auxiliary Optical Parametric Oscillators (OPOs) with outputs centered at (1/2)f ₁ is used to facilitate the difference-frequency measurement between the two ratios. A practical configuration utilizing a YAG and a Ti: Al₂O₃ laser and its application to a number of precision measurements of interest are presented.     

飞秒光梳和碘稳频532nm Nd:YAG激光频率的测量

报道了中国计量科学研究院研制的基于掺钛蓝宝石(Ti:Sapphire)锁模飞秒脉冲激光器的飞秒光学频率梳装置，并利用此装置测量了碘稳频532nm(¹²⁷I₂R(56)32-10) Nd∶YAG固体激光器的频率，结果为 563260223512991±20Hz,相对不确定度为3.6×10^-14.这一数值是直接溯源到铯原子微波频率基准的光学频率测量结果.     

Absolute frequency measurement in the 28-THz spectral region with a femtosecond laser comb and a long-distance optical link to a primary standard

A new frequency chain was demonstrated to measure an optical frequency standard based on a rovibrational molecular transition in the 28-THz spectral region accessible to a CO₂ laser. It uses a femtosecond-laser frequency comb generator and two laser diodes at 852 nm and 788 nm as intermediate oscillators, with their frequency difference phase locked to the CO₂ laser. The rf repetition rate of the femtosecond laser was compared with a 100-MHz signal from a hydrogen maser, located at BNM-SYRTE. The 100-MHz signal is transmitted by amplitude modulation of a 1.55-m laser diode through a 43-km telecommunication optical fibre. As a first example, the absolute measurement of a saturation line of OsO₄ in the vicinity of the P(16) laser line of CO₂ is reported with a relative uncertainty of 10^-12, limited by the CO₂/OsO₄ frequency day-to-day reproducibility. The current limit on the stability of the frequency measurement is 4×10^-13 at 1 s. PACS 06.20.-f; 42.62.Eh; 06.30.Ft     

Absolute frequency measurement of CO2 laser lines with a femtosecond laser comb and new determination of the CO2 molecular constants and frequency grid

Absolute frequency measurements of a CO₂ laser stabilized on saturated absorption resonances of CO₂ laser lines are reported. They were performed using a femtosecond-laser frequency comb generator and two laser diodes at 852 and 782 nm as intermediate oscillators, with their frequency difference phase-locked to the CO₂ laser. Twenty ¹²C¹⁶O₂ laser lines in the P and R bands at 9 μm were measured with a relative uncertainty of a few 10⁻¹² limited by the CO₂ frequency reproducibility. A new determination of the CO₂ molecular constants was obtained from these data and previous measurements in the 10 μm band. The CO₂ frequency grid was also calculated, with an improvement of two orders of magnitude compared to the previous grid of Maki et al. [J. Mol. Spectrosc. 167 (1994) 211].     

Improved deuterium bromide 1-0 band molecular constants from heterodyne frequency measurements

Heterodyne frequency measurements have been made on selected deuterium bromide 1-0 band transitions ranging from P(20) to R(17). Difference frequency beat notes between a tunablediode laser whose frequency was locked to the DBr absorption lines and a CO laser whose frequency was either locked or adjusted to a reference synthesized from CO₂ laser frequency standards were measured. The beat note frequency was then combined with the measured CO laser frequency to give the DBr frequency. For two of the measurements, frequency-doubled CO₂ laser radiation was substituted for the CO laser radiation. The measurements included electric quadrupole split triplets comprising the R(0) and P(1) transitions in the D⁷⁹Br isotope. New DBr constants have been determined, and a table of frequencies is presented for the calibration of spectrometers and tunable lasers in the wavenumber range 1600 to 1990 cm^?1. A table of far-infrared frequencies is also given for DBr covering the range from 50 to 206 cm^?1.     

Frequency stability of a mercury ion frequency standard

Observation with an improved signal-to-noise ratio of the hyperfine resonance pattern of¹⁹⁹Hg⁺ stored in a radiofrequency trap is reported. A frequency control loop which locks the frequency of a 5MHz quartz crystal oscillator to the hyperfine transition of stored mercury ions, close to 40.5 GHz, is described. In this system, pulses delivered by the photomultiplier are processed digitally. Optimal conditions for the interrogation of the hyperfine transition are specified. A fractional frequency stability σ_y(τ)=3.6×10⁻¹¹τ^−1/2 for 10s<τ<3500s has been obtained. This frequency stability is comparble to that of commercially available cesium beam frequency standards. Prospect for improvement by a factor of at least 10 are discussed. This work has been sponsored by DRET     

Improved rovibrational constants and frequency tables for the normal laser bands of 12C16O2

New frequency difference measurements between Doppler-free stabilized laser lines in the 9.4- and 10.4-μm bands of ¹²C¹⁶O₂, including high-J and across-the-band-center measurements, have made significant improvements in the rovibrational constants. The absolute frequencies were referred to the methane stabilized 3.39-μm HeNe laser. Frequency tables generated from these constants have absolute uncertainties of less than two parts in 10¹⁰ and are about a factor of 10 better than older tables. In addition, the laser lines P_I(50) in ¹³C¹⁶O₂ and R_II(26) in ¹³C¹⁸O₂, which were used as reference lines in recent visible laser frequency measurements, were also measured to about the same accuracy.     

Multiple frequency stabilization of lasers using double saturation spectroscopy

We have developed a method of stabilizing multiple lasers based on double saturation spectroscopy. Compared with other laser-stabilization methods based on conventional saturation spectroscopy, ours provides numerous reference spectra constructed with several velocity groups of atoms. Two independent laser sources can be simultaneously stabilized by using combined optical-pumping processes associated with a single Rb reference. We analyzed the stability of the feedback loop taking the correlation effect of the saturation spectra into consideration. We experimentally demonstrated two stabilized laser sources with a frequency difference of 6,109 MHz in the ⁸⁷Rb D₂ line. The results were in good agreement with theory within errors in measurement.     

Laser frequency stabilization at 1.5 microns using ultranarrow inhomogeneous absorption profiles in Er:LiYF4

Single-frequency diode lasers have been frequency stabilized to 1.5 kHz Allan deviation over 0.05-50 s integration times, with laser frequency drift reduced to less than 1.4 kHz/min, using the frequency reference provided by an ultranarrow inhomogeneously broadened Er³⁺:⁴I_15/2→⁴I_13/2 optical absorption transition at a vacuum wavelength of 1530.40 nm in a low-strain LiYF₄ crystal. The 130 MHz full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) inhomogeneous line width of this reference transition is the narrowest reported for a solid at 1.5 μm. Strain-induced inhomogeneous broadening was reduced by using the single isotope ⁷Li and by the very similar radii of Er³⁺ and the Y³⁺ ions for which it substitutes. To show the practicability of cryogen-free cooling, this laser stability was obtained with the reference crystal at 5 K; moreover, this performance did not require vibrational isolation of either the laser or crystal frequency reference. Stabilization is feasible up to T=25 K where the Er³⁺ absorption thermally broadens to ∼500 MHz. This stabilized laser system provides a tool for interferometry, high-resolution spectroscopy, real-time optical signal processing based on spatial spectral holography and accumulated photon echoes, secondary frequency standards, and other applications such as quantum information science requiring narrow-band light sources or coherent detection.     

New far-infrared emissions and frequency measurements in hydrazine

By means of a new CO₂ laser we performed a new investigation of the far-infrared laser emission spectrum of hydrazine excited by the 10P(32) and 10R(8) CO₂ laser lines. We found seven new lines and measured the frequency of four of them; moreover we measured the frequencies of two more lines previously reported in the literature with only wavelength measurements. The frequencies of the far-infrared laser emissions have been measured by means of a frequency-synthesis chain based on new InP Schottky diodes. The detected signal was beat-note generated in a Schottky diode between the far-infrared radiation, the harmonics of a 72 GHz frequency reference and a rf signal. We also characterized all of the observed lines by their polarization relative to the pumping CO₂ laser, the optimum pressure and the offset relative to the CO₂ center frequency. PACS 42.55.Lt; 42.62.Fi     

High-resolution spectroscopy with and frequency stabilization of a cw dye laser

The hyperfine splittings of the Na D₁ and D₂ lines were investigated using a single mode cw dye laser. The light of the laser was scattered by the atoms of an atomic beam and the fluorescent light was observed as the frequency of the laser was tuned across the D lines. The Doppler width of the atomic beam was reduced to about 2.5 MHz so that the absorption width of the atoms of the beam was essentially determined by the natural width of the 3²P_1/2 and 3²P_3/2 levels, which is about 10 MHz. Since the linewidth observed for the hyperfine transitions was 30 MHz, most of the hyperfine components of the D₁ and D₂ lines could be resolved. In another experiment the frequency of the dye laser was locked to a hyperfine transition of the D₁ line. The observed variation of the output frequency of the dye laser was less than ±1.5 MHz. In addition, the intensity of the dye laser was controlled to about 10⁻³, using an electro-optically variable transmission filter.     

Cold cesium molecules produced directly in a magneto-optical trap

We report on the observation of ultracold ground electric-state cesium molecules produced directly in a magneto- optical trap with a good signal-to-noise ratio. These molecules arise from the photoassociation of magneto-optical trap lasers and they are detected by resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization technology. The production rate of ultracold cesium molecules is up to 4×10⁴ s^-1. We measure the characteristic time of the ground electric-state cesium molecules generated in the experiment and investigate the Cs₂⁺ molecular ion intensity as a function of the trapping laser intensity and the ionization pulse laser energy. We conclude that the production of cold cesium molecules may be enhanced by using appropriate experimental parameters, which is useful for future experiments involving the production and trapping of ultracold ground electric-state molecules.     

Method to investigate the symmetry of saturated absorption signals by means of laser frequency locking techniques

It is shown that the line shape of a saturated absorption signal — especially its symmetry — can be investigated by combining laser frequency locking methods. The laser frequencyv, modulated with a frequencyf, is stabilized alternatively to the zero crossings of the synchronously detected 2f and 3f absorption signals. In addition, almost any other part of the profile can be tested by locking the laser frequency to neighboruing points of the zero crossings by using an offset technique. With two prestabilized Ar⁺ lasers atv=582 THz the symmetry of different¹²⁷ I ₂ hfs signals was investigated with an uncertainty of typically 2×10^–12 v or 10^–3 halfwidths.     

Absolute frequency measurement of a water-stabilized diode laser at 1.384?��m by means of a fiber frequency comb

We report on the absolute frequency measurement of an extended-cavity diode laser stabilized against a Doppler-free vibration?Crotation transition of the H₂ ¹⁸O isotopologue near 1.384???m. Absolute determination is performed by comparing the water-stabilized laser frequency with respect to a GPS-disciplined Rb microwave standard by means of a self-referenced fiber-based optical frequency comb. The line center frequency of the 2_2,1??2_2,0 transition of the H₂ ¹⁸O ??₁+??₃ combination band is found to be 216?519?045?955(13)?kHz.     

Simultaneous phase-lock of five CO2 lasers to a primary Cs frequency standard

The output of a CO₂ laser, operating on theP _I(18) transition of¹³C¹⁶O₂ at 26941 GHz (11.128 m) was phase-locked to a 5 MHz signal from a primary Cs frequency standard by means of a frequency chain having only CO₂ lasers as infrared sources. Simultaneously, four other CO₂ lasers in the chain were phase-locked to the 26941 GHz output. This provided CO₂ laser frequencies at 26 450 305, 26 940 815, 28 694 625, 29 442 480, and 33 185 715 MHz having zero long-term-average frequency error relative to the Cs standard, and the ±10^–13 (3 Hz) long-term absolute uncertainty of the standard.