Narrow linewidth light source for an ultraviolet optical frequency standard

We report an ultra-narrow linewidth light source applicable for a frequency standard in the ultraviolet. The laser is a Nd:YAG laser that emits at 946 nm with 300-mW output power. It is locked to a high-finesse cavity. The minimum Allan deviation is 1.3×10^-14 for an integration time of 1 s, which corresponds to a laser linewidth of 2.8 Hz. The cavity drift is measured by a frequency comb and a single-ion spectrum for different time scales. In order to investigate broadening mechanisms due to the fiber transport and doubling systems, the laser light is frequency doubled with two independent systems and compared. The measured minimum beat-note between the two laser fields is less than 1 Hz. By carrying out a high-resolution scan on a trapped single indium ion, we observe a linewidth of 260 Hz on the ion clock transition. Possible reasons for the broadening effects are discussed. PACS 42.55.Xi; 42.62.Eh; 42.65.Ky     

A Compact Diode-Pumped Injection Seeded Nd：YAG Laser with Resonance-Detection Technique

A diode pumped injection seeded single-longit udinal-mode （SLM） Nd： YA G laser is achieved by using the resonancedetection technique in Q-switching operation. The pulsed oscillator laser uses a folded cavity to achieve compact construction. This system operates at 100 Hz and provides over 20 m J/pulse of single-frequency 1064 nm output. The M2 values of horizontal and vertical axes are 1.58 and 1.41, respectively. The probability of putting out single-longitudinal-mode pulses is 100%. The 355 nm laser output produced by frequency tripling has a linewidth less than 200 MHz. The laser can run over eight hours continually without, mode hopping     

利用自相位延迟方法测量单块腔反馈半导体外腔激光器的线宽

提出了采用单块折叠法布里-珀罗(F-P)腔作为外腔反馈元件实现窄线宽半导体激光器,采用单块腔的光学反馈来锁定外腔激光器,使用自相位延迟法测量该窄线宽激光器的线宽。实验结果表明,激光器线宽小于35kHz。实验还观测到由于单块腔耦合面上各耦合点的几何量和物理量误差不一样,随着折叠面兼输入输出耦合面上的耦合点的变化,外腔激光器的线宽发生改变。     

Diode laser using narrow bandwidth interference filter at 852 nm and its application in Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter

We demonstrate an 852-nm external cavity diode laser(ECDL) system whose wavelength is mainly determined by an interference filter instead of other wavelength selective elements. The Lorentzian linewidth measured by the heterodyne beating between two identical lasers is 28.3 k Hz. Moreover, we test the application of the ECDL in the Faraday atomic filter.Besides saturated absorption spectrum, the transmission spectrum of the Faraday atomic filter at 852 nm is measured by using the ECDL. This interference filter ECDL method can also be extended to other wavelengths and widen the application range of diode laser.     

High-resolution laser spectroscopy of ultracold ytterbium atoms using spin-forbidden electric quadrupole transition

We have successfully observed high-resolution spectra of spin-forbidden electric quadrupole transition (¹ S ₀→³ D ₂) in ytterbium (¹⁷⁴Yb) atoms. The differential light shifts between the ¹ S ₀ and the ³ D ₂ states in a far-off resonant trap at 532 nm are also measured. For the spectroscopy, we developed simple, narrow-linewidth, and long-term frequency stabilized violet diode laser systems. Long-term drifts of the excitation laser (404 nm) is suppressed by locking the laser to a length stabilized optical cavity. The optical path length of the cavity is stabilized to another diode laser whose frequency is locked to a strong ¹ S ₀→¹ P ₁ transition (399 nm) of Yb. Both lasers are standard extended-cavity diode lasers (ECDLs) in the Littrow configuration. Since the linewidth of a violet ECDL (～10 MHz) is broader than a typical value of a red or near infra-red ECDL (<1 MHz), we employ optical feedback from a narrow-band Fabry–Perot cavity to reduce the linewidth. The linewidth is expected to be <20 kHz for 1 ms averaging time, and the long-term frequency stability is estimated to be ～200 kHz/h.     

Control and active stabilization of the linewidth of an ECDL

The linewidth of a polarization-locked external cavity diode laser (ECDL) is explored employing heterodyne as well as self-heterodyne measurements. We use a model capable of providing the individual contributions of white, pink and red noise to the overall linewidth to analyze the measured beat spectra. These spectra are obtained while tuning the external cavity as well as a function of pump current and feedback level. By virtue of our locking technique, we find that the linewidth can be adjusted and minimized by simply altering the setpoint of the closed-loop control. This control of the linewidth is applicable for any ECDL using polarization locking. For our particular ECDL, we are able to tune the overall linewidth from ??8?kHz to 20?kHz. Moreover, we achieve a lower white noise level of the ECDL compared to a free running one.     

A 657-nm narrow bandwidth interference filter-stabilized diode laser

We present a 657-nm external cavity diode laser (ECDL) system,where the output frequency is stabilized by a narrow-band high transmission interference filter.This novel diode laser system emits laser with an instantaneous linewidth of 7 kHz and a broadened linewidth of 432 kHz.     

Frequency stability measurement of a transfer-cavity-stabilized diode laser by using an optical frequency comb

We report results of frequency stability measurements of an extended cavity diode laser (ECDL) whose frequency is stabilized by a non-evacuated scanning transfer cavity. The transfer cavity is locked to a commercial frequency stabilized helium–neon laser. Frequency stability is measured by use of an optical frequency comb. The environmental perturbations (variations of temperature, air pressure, and humidity) are also simultaneously measured. The observed frequency drift of the ECDL is well explained by environmental perturbations. An atmospheric pressure variation, which is difficult to control with a non-evacuated cavity, is mainly affected to the frequency stability. Thus we put the cavity into a simple O-ring sealed (non-evacuated) tube. With this simple O-ring sealed tube, the frequency drift is reduced by a factor of 3, and the Allan variance reaches a value of 2.4×10⁻¹⁰, corresponds to the frequency stability of 83 kHz, at the average time of 3000 s. Since the actual frequency drift is well estimated by simultaneous measurement of the ambient temperature, pressure, and humidity, a feed-forward compensation of frequency drifts is also feasible in order to achieve a higher frequency stability with a simple non-evacuated transfer cavity.     

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.     

External cavity diode laser with kilohertz linewidth by a monolithic folded Fabry-Perot cavity optical feedback

We present a extended-cavity diode laser (ECDL) with kilohertz linewidth by optical feedback from a monolithic folded Fabry-Perot cavity (MFC). In our experiments, an MFC replaces the retroreflecting mirror in the traditional ECDL configuration. Beat-note measurements between this MFC-ECDL and a narrow-linewidth reference laser are performed and demonstrate that the linewidth of this MFC-ECDL is about 6.8 kHz. Phase locking of this MFC-ECDL to the reference laser is achieved with a unity gain as small as 10.2 kHz.     

Short-term frequency stabilization of diode-laser-pumped Nd:YAG lasers using double-pendulum suspended cavities

We describe the improvement of short-term frequency stability of diode-laser-pumped Nd:YAG lasers. To improve the vibrational isolation of reference cavities, the reference cavities were suspended by a double pendulum with magnetic damping. The frequency noise was reduced to lower than 1 Hz/Hz at Fourier frequencies higher than 5 Hz and the minimum noise of 7 × 10^–3 Hz/Hz was recorded. The minimum root Allan variance was about 10^–14 for the sampling time of 0.01 s. Heating of the reference cavity by absorbed laser power caused the thermal drift of cavity resonance frequencies. It resulted in the laser linewidth in the range of 30–50 Hz.     

基于自制超稳定F-P腔压窄632.8nm外腔半导体激光线宽的实验研究

窄线宽激光由于其具有单色性好、稳定度高、相干长度长等优点,广泛应用于光电检测领域,包括相干通信、精密测量、光学频率标准、吸收光谱计量以及光与物质相互作用研究等。目前频率稳定的氦氖激光器线宽可以达到MHz量级,分布反馈式（DFB）光纤激光器线宽可达kHz量级,DFB半导体激光器线宽可以达到MHz量级,然而光栅反馈半导体激光器可以实现百kHz量级线宽的输出。为了进一步压窄各类激光器线宽,需要通过反馈控制技术来锁定激光到某一频率参考。该研究将自行设计的超稳腔作为频率参考,实现了632.8 nm外腔半导体激光器（ECDL）线宽的有效压窄。本窄线宽激光产生系统的研制包括超稳腔设计、光路设计、ECDL频率控制以及系统集成。超稳腔采用两镜法布里-珀罗腔（F-P腔）结构,腔体是膨胀系数约为10-6 K-1的微晶玻璃,腔镜为一对反射率达99.988 5%(±0.003 5%）的平面镜和凹面镜。为进一步减小外界环境对F-P腔腔长的影响,需要对腔体进行温度控制,本系统采用四片总功率为96 W的半导体制冷片以及水冷散热设计。同时为了降低声音和空气流动对腔模频率的影响,将F-P腔置于真空度为10-5 torr的真空室中;另外为了有效隔振,腔体与真空室用硅橡胶材料隔离。该系统采用的ECDL为德国Toptica公司的DL pro系列激光器,其具有压电陶瓷（PZT）和电流调制两个频率控制端,响应带宽分别为1 kHz和100 MHz。激光器的频率控制采用了Pound-Drever-Hall （PDH）锁频技术,18 MHz的调制频率加载到激光器的电流调制端,通过对F-P腔的反射信号进行解调获得误差信号,通过两路反馈控制,实现了近1 MHz的锁定带宽。通过对系统的不断优化,最后将自由运转状态下约300 kHz的激光线宽压窄到了10 kHz量级,并且系统运行稳定,连续12小时锁定的频率漂移量约为30 MHz。该研究研制的632.8 nm窄线宽激光源不仅可以应用到吸收光谱计量领域,同时也可以在光学面型精密测量领域发挥重要作用。     

Fast, low-noise, mode-by-mode, cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy by diode-laser self-locking

A new technique of cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy is described. Molecular absorption spectra are obtained by recording the transmission maxima of the successive TEM_oo resonances of a high-finesse optical cavity when a Distributed Feedback Diode Laser is tuned across them. A noisy cavity output is usually observed in such a measurement since the resonances are spectrally narrower than the laser. We show that a folded (V-shaped) cavity can be used to obtain selective optical feedback from the intracavity field which builds up at resonance. This induces laser linewidth reduction and frequency locking. The linewidth narrowing eliminates the noisy cavity output, and allows measuring the maximum mode transmissions accurately. The frequency locking permits the laser to scan stepwise through the successive cavity modes. Frequency tuning is thus tightly optimized for cavity mode injection. Our setup for this technique of Optical-Feedback Cavity-Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) includes a 50 cm folded cavity with finesse ∼20 000 (ringdown time ∼20 μs) and allows recording spectra of up to 200 cavity modes (2 cm⁻¹) using 100 ms laser scans. We obtain a noise equivalent absorption coefficient of ∼5×10⁻¹⁰ cm⁻¹ for 1 s averaging over scans, with a dynamic range of four orders of magnitude.     

激光线宽对单次通过PPMgO:LN晶体倍频效率的影响

通过单次穿过PPMgO:LN晶体产生了2.06 W的780 nm可调谐的连续倍频光. 采用1560 nm的分布反馈式(DFB)半导体激光器、光栅外腔半导体激光器(ECDL)和分布反馈式掺铒光纤激光器(DFB-EDFL)分别作为掺铒光纤放大器(EDFA)的注入光源, 所用的EDFA具有保持窄线宽的功能, 因此可以忽略它对基波线宽的展宽. 研究了激光线宽对单次通过PPMgO:LN 晶体的倍频效率的影响. 控制三台激光器各自注入EDFA的功率一致, 同时也保持EDFA 的输出功率. 在基波功率为12.42 W 时, 使用DFB半导体激光器注入EDFA时得到了1.36 W的780 nm倍频光输出, 转换效率为11.0%; 使用ECDL作为种子源时得到了1.78 W 的780 nm倍频光输出, 转换效率为14.3%; 使用DFB-EDFL作为种子源时得到了2.06 W的780 nm倍频光输出, 转换效率为16.6%. 测得三台种子激光器的线宽分别为1.2 MHz (DFB), 200 kHz (ECDL)和600 Hz (DFB-EDFL). 线宽越窄, 倍频效率越高, 实验结果与理论分析一致.     

243 nm稳频窄线宽半导体激光器

243 nm是氢原子1S-2S能级跃迁光谱波长. 本文利用Pound-Drever-Hall稳频技术将972 nm光栅反馈外腔半导体激光稳定在一个高精细度低膨胀系数的超稳法布里-珀罗腔上, 通过锥形放大器放大和腔内两次共振增强倍频得到243 nm激光, 最终实现用于探测氢原子1S-2S双光子跃迁的243 nm窄线宽激光.     

An external cavity diode laser using a volume holographic grating

This study presents an external cavity diode laser (ECDL) system, utilizing a volume holographic grating (VHG) and a microfabricated silicon flexure as the VHG holder. The laser design is aimed for easy assembly, controllability, and better stability of the laser cavity. The laser frequency was stabilized to a D₂ transition of rubidium at 780.247 nm, with a mode-hop-free tuning range of 16 GHz and 9.6 GHz with and without feed-forward on the diode injection current. The measured linewidth was 850 kHz in 500 s, qualified for laser cooling experiments.     

Narrow bandwidth interference filter-stabilized diode laser systems for the manipulation of neutral atoms

We present and investigate different external cavity diode laser (ECDL) configurations for the manipulation of neutral atoms, wavelength-stabilized by a narrow-band high transmission interference filter. A novel diode laser, providing high output power of more than 1 W, with a linewidth of less than 85 kHz, based on a self-seeded tapered amplifier chip has been developed. Additionally, we compare the optical and spectral properties of two laser systems based on common laser diodes, differing in their coating, as well as one, based on a distributed-feedback (DFB) diode. The linear cavity setup in all these systems combines a robust and compact design with a high wavelength tunability and an improved stability of the optical feedback compared to diode laser setups using diffraction gratings for wavelength discrimination.     

A 729 nm laser with ultra-narrow linewidth for probing 4S1/2-3D5/2 clock transition of Ca

A Coherent Inc. Ti:sapphire laser MBR-110 is locked to a temperature-controlled high finesse Fabry-Perot cavity supported on an isolated platform. The linewidth is measured by locking the laser to another similar super-cavity at the same time and the heterodyne beatnote between two laser beams that locked to different cavities determines the linewidth. The result shows that the laser's linewidth is suppressed to be 41 Hz. The long-term drift is measured with a femtosecond comb and determined to be ~ 0.1 Hz/s. This laser is used to probe the 4S_1/2-3D_5/2 clock transition of a single ⁴⁰Ca⁺ ion. The Zeeman components of the clock transition with a linewidth of 160 Hz have been observed.     

Diode laser with 1 Hz linewidth

We report an ultranarrow-linewidth laser spectrometer at 657 nm, consisting of a diode laser locked in a single stage to a stable high-finesse reference cavity. The system is characterized by comparison with a second independent system. From beat frequency measurements a linewidth below 1.5 Hz (FWHM) and a fractional instability of less than 2 x 10(-15) for 1 s of averaging time are observed.     

A narrow linewidth and frequency-stable probe laser source for the <Superscript>88</Superscript>Sr<Superscript>+</Superscript> single ion optical frequency standard

In this paper, we describe in detail a narrow linewidth and frequency-stable laser source used to probe the 5s ² S _1/2–4d ² D _5/2 clock transition of the ⁸⁸Sr⁺ optical frequency standard. The performance of the laser system is investigated with studies of its frequency drift rates and with high resolution spectra of the ⁸⁸Sr⁺ clock transition. The observed short-term drift rates are typically in the range of 10 to 23 mHz/s, and the current long-term drift rate is 13.9(3) mHz/s. The laser stability, after subtraction of linear drifts, reaches 5×10⁻¹⁶ at an averaging time of 3000 s. This high level of stability is attributed for the most part to stabilization of the reference cavity at the temperature where the coefficient of linear thermal expansion crosses zero. An upper bound for the laser linewidth is given by the observation of a Fourier-transform limited resonance of 4.3 Hz (Δν/ν=1×10⁻¹⁴) on the ⁸⁸Sr⁺ clock transition. The effective averaging time during the linewidth measurements was about 100 s.