An auto-locked diode laser system for precision metrology

Pouliot

Review of Scientific Instruments

et al. 2019

Self Cite

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization and applications of auto-locked vacuum-sealed diode lasers for precision metrology

Pouliot

Review of Scientific Instruments

et al. 2019

Self Cite

“…Such an experiment will also require excitation beams with a power output of several Watts so that far-off resonant excitation is feasible. This seemingly challenging requirement can be addressed by using low-cost laser systems consisting of tapered amplifier waveguides seeded by auto-locked diode laser systems [61] that are discussed in Sec. 5.…”

Section: Improvements and Future Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To fulfill experimental requirements, we have relied on elegant and practical designs for external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs) and controllers [168][169][170][171][172][173] that produce power outputs of 1-100 mW and linewidths of ∼1 MHz, to develop unique, low-cost, vacuum-sealed, auto-locked external cavity diode laser systems (ALDLS) that can be integrated using components from original equipment manufacturers (OEM), specially machined parts, and powerful central processors [61]. The laser source depends on optical feedback from a narrow-band interference filter to realize a narrow laser linewidth and improved spatial mode quality.…”

Section: Auto-locked Lasersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospects for Precise Measurements with Echo Atom Interferometry

Barrett

et al. 2016

Atoms

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Echo atom interferometers have emerged as interesting alternatives to Raman interferometers for the realization of precise measurements of the gravitational acceleration g and the determination of the atomic fine structure through measurements of the atomic recoil frequency ω q . Here we review the development of different configurations of echo interferometers that are best suited to achieve these goals. We describe experiments that utilize near-resonant excitation of laser-cooled rubidium atoms by a sequence of standing wave pulses to measure ω q with a statistical uncertainty of 37 parts per billion (ppb) on a time scale of ∼50 ms and g with a statistical precision of 75 ppb. Related coherent transient techniques that have achieved the most statistically precise measurements of atomic g-factor ratios are also outlined. We discuss the reduction of prominent systematic effects in these experiments using off-resonant excitation by low-cost, high-power lasers.

“…Additionally, the laser pulses should have pulse widths of about 100 ns, repetition rates of several kilohertz and power outputs of a few Watts. Here we describe a pulsed laser system based on auto-locked diode laser systems (ALDLS) [2][3][4][5] that is capable of addressing all the required specifications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Auto-locking waveguide amplifier system for lidar and magnetometric applications

Pouliot¹,

High-Power Diode Laser Technology XVI

et al. 2018

We describe a compact waveguide amplifier system that is suitable for optically pumping rubidium magnetometers. The system consists of an auto-locking vacuum-sealed external cavity diode laser, a semiconductor tapered amplifier and a pulsing unit based on an acousto-optic modulator. The diode laser utilises optical feedback from an interference filter to narrow the linewidth of an inexpensive laser diode to ~500 kHz. This output is scannable over an 8 GHz range (at 780 nm) and can be locked without human intervention to any spectral marker in an expandable library of reference spectra, using the autolocking controller. The tapered amplifier amplifies the output from 50 mW up to 2 W with negligible distortions in the spectral quality. The system can operate at visible and near infrared wavelengths with MHz repetition rates. We demonstrate optical pumping of rubidium vapour with this system for magnetometric applications. The magnetometer detects the differential absorption of two orthogonally polarized components of a linearly polarized probe laser following optical pumping by a circularly polarized pump laser. The differential absorption signal is studied for a range of pulse lengths, pulse amplitudes and DC magnetic fields. Our results suggest that this laser system is suitable for optically pumping spin-exchange free magnetometers.