Zero-crossing temperature of ultra-stable optical reference cavity measured by optical transition spectrum

Abstract

In an experimental system of <sup>87</sup>Sr atomic optical lattice clock, the free-running 698 nm diode laser is locked in an ultra-stable optical reference cavity to obtain the ultra-stable narrow linewidth laser with good short-term frequency stability. The ultra-stable optical reference cavity, which is usually composed of glass material doped with titanium dioxide for ultra-low thermal expansion coefficient and two highly reflective fused quartz mirrors, is called ULE cavity. The cavity length is prone to being affected by mechanical vibration, temperature change, airflow, etc. The stability of the cavity length determines the stability of the final laser frequency. Near the room temperature, there exists a special temperature point for the ultra-low expansion glass material, at which temperature its thermal expansion coefficient becomes zero, which is called the zero-crossing temperature. At the zero-crossing temperature, the length of the ULE cavity is not sensitive to the temperature fluctuation, reaching a minimum value, and the laser locked to the ULE cavity has a minimum frequency drift. In order to reduce the influence of temperature on the laser frequency instability, the zero-crossing temperature of the ultra-stable optical reference cavity of 698 nm ultra-stable narrow linewidth laser system is measured by using the clock transition spectrum of the strontium atomic optical lattice clock. The frequency drift and frequency instability of the 698 nm ultra-stable narrow linewidth laser system at zero-crossing temperature are measured by using the change of the in-loop locked clock frequency of strontium atomic optical lattice clock. By scanning the atomic clock transition frequencies at different temperatures, the clock transition spectra at different temperatures are obtained. The second order polynomial fitting of the central frequency of the clock transition spectrum with the change curve of temperature is carried out, and the zero-crossing temperature of the 698 nm ultra-stable narrow linewidth laser system ULE cavity is measured to be 30.63 ℃. At the zero-crossing temperature, the 698 nm ultra-stable narrow linewidth laser frequency is used for in-loop locking of <sup>87</sup>Sr atomic optical lattice clock. The linear drift rate of the ULE cavity in the 698 nm ultra-stable narrow linewidth laser system is measured to be 0.15 Hz/s, and the frequency instability of the 698 nm ultra-stable narrow linewidth laser system is 1.6 × 10<sup>–15</sup> at an average time of 3.744 s. The determination of ULE cavity zero-crossing temperature for the 698 nm ultra-stable narrow linewidth laser system is of great significance in helping to not only improve the instability of the laser system, but also increase the instability of <sup>87</sup>Sr optical lattice clock system. In the future, we will improve the temperature control system of the ULE cavity in the 698 nm clock laser system, enhancing the temperature control accuracy of the ULE cavity and reducing the measurement error, thus achieving a more accurate zero-crossing temperature and further improving the frequency instability of the 698 nm ultra-stable narrow linewidth laser system.