The short- and long-term frequency stabilization of an injection-locked Nd:YAG laser in reference to a Fabry–Perot cavity and an iodine saturated absorption line

Abstract

We have developed a wideband frequency-stabilized injection-locked Nd:YAG laser as a light source for the laser interferometric gravitational wave detector, in which short-term frequency stability of the laser improves the sensitivity of the interferometer and the long-term frequency stability aims for the stable long-time operation of the interferometer. The frequency of a 2-W injection-locked laser is locked to both a rigid Fabry–Perot cavity with ULE spacer and saturated absorption line of 127 I 2 simultaneously with two nested servo loops, and the long-term as well as short-term frequency stability are obtained. The drift of the resonant frequency of the rigid Fabry–Perot cavity is measured and the stability of the Fabry–Perot cavity is estimated to be 20× f −1 [Hz/√Hz]. The predicted frequency stabilities of the present dual-reference-locked laser are numerically simulated. Our wideband frequency-stabilized laser is also available for the high-resolution spectroscopy.