Modulation-free optical locking of an external-cavity diode laser to a filter cavity

Optical locking to a filter cavity is an effective method to eliminate the limitations of an external-cavity diode laser, such as broad spontaneous emission backgrounds and frequency jitters. Stable operation of the optical locking requires simultaneous control of the feedback phase and the diode-laser frequency. Frequency dither is usually used to extract the two error signals, but this causes extra frequency modulation in the output beam. A modulation-free method for deriving the error signals by modulating the laser-cavity coupling strength is demonstrated with a violet diode laser. A modulation-free linewidth upper limit of about 7 kHz for a 1 s measurement is realized by the method.     

EIT locking of a semiconductor diode laser: significant improvement over Doppler locking

We report a precise frequency locking technique using electromagnetically induced transparency in an atomic vapour cell for a semiconductor diode laser. The sub natural line-width of EIT (Electromagnetically induced transparency) allows improvement in the stability of the laser diode under the locked condition. D₂ transition of ⁸⁵Rb atom is used for this experiment. Frequency stability of the laser under the locked condition is of the order of 426 kHz which provides nearly 80 times better stability than the Doppler locked condition.     

Highly efficient phase locking of four diode pumped Nd:YAG laser beams

We describe the mutual phase-locking of four Nd:YAG beams longitudinally end-pumped by four fiber-coupled diode lasers. Mutual phase-locking is performed by two types of diffractive components located inside a telescopic Fabry–Perot resonator. The control of the phase-locking is shown and the different spatial eigenmodes connected with the pumping geometry in the resonator are theoretically and experimentally studied. 1.2 W is obtained in a single mode stable pattern with 30% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency in the continuous wave regime.     

The study of third harmonic demodulation in phase modulation optical heterodyne technique using optical resonator

With the technique of phase modulation optical heterodyne(PMOH), we detected the beat-frequency signal of the reflected wave from a F-P cavity. The frequency of the beat signal was three times of that of the modulation electric field, when the 3rd harmonic of the modulation electric field was used as the phase reference signal. The line shapes of the signal match those of the theoretical calculations, and the dispersion signal has good frequency-discrimination characteristic.     

全光纤光外差检测技术的研究

本文介绍了由普通单模光纤构成的全光纤光外差检测系统的基本原理和实验研究结果。在该系统中采用了自行研制设计的实现全光纤化的两个关键光纤元件：普通单模光纤频率偏移器和普通单模光纤偏振控制器，介绍了此两光纤元件的基本工作原理和设计方法。文章还给出了实际的全光纤外差检测系统，元器件的选用及实现光外差检测空间条件的光路调节方法。     

实现半导体激光器频率跟踪和锁定的新方法

本文报道实现半导体激光器连续频率跟踪和锁定的一种新方法:利用法拉第反常色散光学滤波器(FADOF)的透射谱作鉴频器,改变法拉第反常色散光学滤波器的磁场强度,实现频率跟踪和稳频.实验得到,当磁场从0.7×10~(-2)T变到2.2×10~(-2)T时,半导体激光器在～2GHz范围内跟踪锁定,其频率稳定度优于2.1×10~(-10)(100ms≤τ≤10s).     

Injection locking of a diode laser locked to a Zeeman frequency stabilized laser oscillator

We describe the design and performance of an injection-locked diode laser locked to a stabilized, single frequency, unmodulated diode laser. The master oscillator is a grating-tuned, external cavity diode laser which is stabilized on a Doppler free alkali metal resonance transition frequency via Zeeman locking. The master oscillator frequency is shifted by an acousto-optic modulator, which provides optical isolation of the master oscillator laser while tuning of the acousto-optic modulation frequency can also provide frequency offset tuning. The slave laser is a free running diode which is injection-locked by a small fraction of the frequency shifted master oscillator light. Good long- and short-time frequency stability are observed for both the Zeeman-locked master oscillator and the injection-locked slave laser.     

Mutual injection locking of an erbium-doped fiber laser and a fiber-pigtailed Fabry-Perot laser diode

Mutual injection locking of a fiber-pigtailed Fabry-Perot laser diode (FPLD) and a closed-loop erbium-doped fiber-amplifier-based laser (EDFL) system are studied. A single FPLD longitudinal mode can be lasing in the EDFL-FPLD link, with a reduced linewidth of <0.017 nm and an improved sidemode-suppressing ratio of 50 dB. The FPLD's optimized current range is below threshold within 10%, and its required feedback-injecting power is 12.4 microW (corresponding to 0.03% of the EDFL output power). The maximum detuning ranges of the current and temperature of the FPLD that preserve the narrow linewidth and the highest sidemode-suppressing ratio of the EDFL-FPLD link are 2.4 mA and 2.2 degrees C, respectively. The power dissipated by the EDFL-FPLD link is 20% more than that of the free-running EDFL.     

Signal processing method of phase correction for laser heterodyne interferometry

A novel signal processing method of movement direction identification and phase correction is presented for laser heterodyne interferometry. Based on the reference signal, four intervals with phase difference of 90° each other are set up. The real-time movement direction identification and the integer fringe counting are realized by detecting the times that the rising-edge of the measurement signal crosses the intervals. The phase correction approach is proposed in detail to solve the fraction phase compensation when the initial phase difference is not equal to the zero phase difference. Three experiments of the stability test, the nanometer and micrometer displacement tests on bi-directional movement were performed to demonstrate the usefulness and feasibility of the presented signal processing method.     

Measuring optical characteristics of the atmosphere with a laser heterodyne system

A laser heterodyne system for measuring optical characteristics of a turbulent atmosphere is described. Continuous readout data on the fluctuations in the phase of the radiation propagating in a channel in the atmosphere are presented. These data can be used to determine the major parameters of the turbulent state. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 75, No. 6, pp. 906–908, November–December, 2008.     

基于噪声免疫腔增强光外差分子光谱技术实现光纤激光器到1530.58 nmNH_3亚多普勒饱和光谱的频率锁定

噪声免疫腔增强光外差分子光谱技术(NICE-OHMS)由于结合了频率调制光谱与腔增强光谱两种技术,不仅可以将激光耦合到高精细度谐振腔大幅提高腔内功率,还可以实现低气压样品气体的高灵敏测量,因此基于该技术可以实现分子吸收线的饱和,获得亚多普勒光谱,从而能作为激光频率锁定的参考.本文基于光纤激光器的NICE-OHMS技术,将光纤激光器频率锁定到NH3的亚多普勒吸收线上.首先分析了基于Pound-Drever-Hall和DeVoe-Brewer技术实现激光到腔模和调制频率到腔自由光谱区频率锁定的性能,之后在腔内气压为70 mTorr条件下,测量了半高全宽为2.05 MHz的NH3亚多普勒信号,最后将1.53μm的光纤激光器频率锁定到该亚多普勒吸收线上,相对频率偏差为16.3 kHz,阿伦方差结果显示,136 s积分时间下频率稳定度达到1.6×10~(-12).     

半导体激光自混频干涉技术对振幅的测量

激光自混频干涉是一种非常特别的现象 ,在许多应用中 ,通常都尽可能地避开来自各种各样的光器件反馈到激光器腔内的光 ,把它看成是有害的 ,例如 :来自光纤端面、或大型光学系统中的各个小光学镜面表面的反射光 ,这些光都能增加噪声及改变半导体激光的一些特性 ,这种性质的惊人影响已由Lenstra[1] 等人详尽描述过。然而 ,激光自混频干涉技术正是应用这种外反馈光携带的可被提取的信息对振动振幅和频率进行测量。     

Analysis of fringe locking in a laser diode interferometer under injection-current modulation

A theoretical analysis has been performed that explains a fringe-locking phenomenon observed in a two-beam interferometer in which a laser diode was subjected to optical feedback and modulation of its injection current. The dependence of wavelength change on the injection-current variation is calculated by use of a model of coupled resonators consisting of the laser cavity and the interferometer. The fringe phase change caused by modulation of the injection current is derived from this model and has proved to be suppressed within much less than 2pi in excess of an integer multiple of 2pi if the path difference of the interferometer is longer than 10 mm. The calculated phase fluctuation agrees well with those observed in experiments.     

Single-frequency operation of a broad-area laser diode by injection locking of a complex spatial mode via a double phase conjugate mirror

We demonstrate what is believed to be the first phase-coherent locking of a high-power broad-area diode to a single-frequency master laser. We use photorefractive double phase conjugation to lock the diode in a self-optimized complex spatial mode while the photorefractive crystal diffracts that complex mode in a near-diffraction-limited beam.     

Optimization of mark edge recording waveform for a phase change rewritable optical disk using a 680 nm laser diode

A high density mark edge recording method on a phase change rewritable disk is reported. A carrier-to-noise ratio of 55 dB for a mark length of 0.55,μm is obtained by using a 680 nm, NA 0.6 head and a phase change rewritable disk. In mark edge recording, it is necessary to record each mark in correct length. A new laser power modulation pattern is proposed. This pattern consists of a first-pulse, a multi-pulse chain and a last-pulse. Both positions of the first-ptilse and the last-pulse are movable. By adjusting these positions, a jitter, σ/T_w (T_w is window margin), is improved to 6.5% in high density EFM (Eight to Fourteen Modulation) recording of 0.4 μm/bit.     

Effect of laser source nonlinearity on optical heterodyne interferometry

In this paper, an optical heterodyne interferometric detection model with a frequency-ramped laser diode (LD) has been analyzed. The effect of the nonlinearity of the LD source on the optical heterodyne interferometry has been investigated in two different ways, which are the power-distortion Fourier series analysis and the harmonic distortion analysis. The general formulation between the tangent of the tested phase and the interference fringe have been presented with the analysis of the beat signal in the frequency domain by each methodology. The numerical results of these formulations have been presented.     

A method for controlling the phase locking of a multichannel laser system

The conditions leading to control over phase-locked oscillation in a set of three loop lasers containing self-pumped phase-conjugate gain-grating mirrors by using a LiF: F ₂ ^? passive Q-switch are studied both experimentally and theoretically. Cases of spatially uniform lamp pumping and high-efficiency spatially nonuniform transverse diode pumping are considered.     

Optical phase locking of two extended-cavity diode lasers with ultra-low phase noise for atom interferometry

We present a phase coherent laser system with ultra-low phase noise with a frequency difference of 6.9 GHz. The laser system consists of two extended-cavity diode lasers that are optically phase-locked with electrical feedback to the injection current of a slave laser. The bandwidth of the optical phase-locking loop is extended up to 8 MHz. We achieve the residual phase noise of two phase-locked lasers of below ?120 dBrad²/Hz in the offset frequency range of 100 Hz–350 kHz and a flat phase noise of ?127 dBrad²/Hz from 700 Hz to 20 kHz. These results are, to the best of our knowledge, the lowest phase noise level ever reported with two extended-cavity diode lasers.     

CW diode pumping and FM mode locking of a Nd: KGW laser

We have demonstrated cw diode end pumping of Nd: KGW, a novel solid-state gain medium, with up to 30% conversion efficiency into near-TEM₀₀ (M² < 1.05) output at = 1.067 µm for a pump level of 2.7 W. The slope efficiency was limited by intracavity reflections to 36%; however, direct comparison to a similar Nd:YAG laser indicates the same intrinsic slope efficiency of 60%. FM mode locking of this laser at 200 MHz has produced 12 ps pulses (compared to 16 ps for Nd: YAG), although an intracavity etalon was required. Considerable reduction in pulse width is possible (the line width limit is 0.5 ps) but different techniques may be necessary. Spatial hole burning was evident in both the 120 GHz free-running spectrum and the etalon-limited mode-locked spectrum.     

Gaussian optical design of a submillimeter-wave and far-infrared laser sideband heterodyne spectrometer

A submillimeter-wave/far-infrared (SMM/FIR) laser sideband heterodyne spectrometer has been built for molecular rotational spectroscopy application in the frequency range of 600–3000 GHz. Based on Gaussian optics, optical system of the spectrometer is designed to be quasi-achromatic and low losses. In this article the optical design and the performance of the spectrometer are presented.