Faraday Anomalous Dispersion Optical Filter Research Articles

Faraday laser at Rb 1529 nm transition for optical communication systems

We experimentally demonstrate a Faraday laser at Rb 1529 nm transition by using a performance-improved Rb electrodeless-discharge-lamp-based excited-state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter as the frequency-selective element. Neither the electrical locking scheme nor the additional frequency-stabilized pump laser are used. The frequency of the external-cavity diode laser is stabilized to the Rb 1529 nm transition, and the Allan deviation of the Faraday laser is measured by converting the optical intensity into frequency. The Faraday laser can be used as a frequency standard in the telecom C band for further research on metrology, microwave photonics, and optical communication systems.

Simultaneous Faraday filtering of the Mollow triplet sidebands with the Cs-D1 clock transition.

Hybrid quantum systems integrating semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and atomic vapours become important building blocks for scalable quantum networks due to the complementary strengths of individual parts. QDs provide on-demand single-photon emission with near-unity indistinguishability comprising unprecedented brightness—while atomic vapour systems provide ultra-precise frequency standards and promise long coherence times for the storage of qubits. Spectral filtering is one of the key components for the successful link between QD photons and atoms. Here we present a tailored Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter based on the caesium-D1 transition for interfacing it with a resonantly pumped QD. The presented Faraday filter enables a narrow-bandwidth (Δω=2π × 1 GHz) simultaneous filtering of both Mollow triplet sidebands. This result opens the way to use QDs as sources of single as well as cascaded photons in photonic quantum networks aligned to the primary frequency standard of the caesium clock transition.

Low-frequency shift Raman spectroscopy using atomic filters.

A Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF) and an atomic resonant absorption filter are used in tandem to demonstrate a low-frequency shift Raman measurement down to few cm^-1. The FADOF, with an ultralow bandwidth of 0.08 cm^-1 at 780nm, serves as a bandpass filter, while the rubidium atomic cell acts as a notch filter which has a bandwidth of 0.3 cm^-1. A proof-of-concept study to measure a Raman signal generated from a silica optical fiber is performed, demonstrating a low-frequency measurement of both the Stokes and the anti-Stokes shift down to 3 cm^-1 at an equivalent signal level. These results indicate the prospect for gigahertz-terahertz low-energy Raman spectroscopy based on atomic filters.

Ultra-narrow linewidth optical filter based on Faraday effect at isotope 87Rb 420 nm transitions

An ultra-narrow linewidth optical filter with isotope 87Rb vapor at 420 nm, within the best waveband 400–500 nm for deep sea communication is achieved for the first time. The Faraday effect, circular dichroism, and nonlinear saturation techniques are utilized to narrow the bandwidth from previous 2.5 GHz to about 15 MHz level on the energy transition 5S1/2→6P3/2. By changing the temperature and magnetic field, the maximum transmission is obtained when the temperature and the magnetic field of the 87Rb cell are at 100 °C and 12 G. We discuss the varying influences of temperature, magnetic field, and pump power on the transmission of the atomic filter. The maximum single peak transmission at 5S1/2, F=2→6P3/2, F′=3 transition is 2.1% with a bandwidth of 17.8 MHz, and 1.9% at the 5S1/2, F=2→6P3/2, F′=2,3 (cross-over) transition with that of 14.2 MHz. The calculated equivalent noise bandwidth of this system is 32.5 MHz. Compared with the conventional Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter, the bandwidth of our system is narrowed at least two orders of magnitude and is closer to the natural linewidth. This ultra-narrow linewidth filter has the potential to be applied to submarine communication or the pump laser in a four-level Rb-based active optical clock.

Hollow cathode lamp based Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter.

The Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF), which has acquired wide applications, is mainly limited to some gaseous elements and low melting-point metals before, for the restriction of the attainable atomic density. In conventional FADOF systems a high atomic density is usually achieved by thermal equilibrium at the saturated vapor pressure, hence for elements with high melting-points a high temperature is required. To avoid this restriction, we propose a scheme of FADOF based on the hollow cathode lamp (HCL), instead of atomic vapor cells. Experimental results in strontium atoms verified this scheme, where a transmission peak corresponding to the 88Sr (5s2)1S0 − (5s5p)1P1 transition (461 nm) is obtained, with a maximum transmittance of 62.5% and a bandwith of 1.19 GHz. The dependence of transmission on magnetic field and HCL discharge current is also studied. Since the state-of-art commercial HCLs cover about 70 elements, this scheme can greatly expand the applications of FADOFs, and the abundant atomic transitions they provide bring the HCL based FADOFs potential applications for frequency stabilization.

Diode laser using narrow bandwidth interference filter at 852 nm and its application in Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 91436210) and the International Science and Technology Cooperation Program of China (Grant No. 2010DFR10900).

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 kHz. 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.

Analysis of excited-state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter at 1529 nm.

In this work, a detailed theoretical analysis of 1529 nm ES-FADOF (excited state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter) based on rubidium atoms pumped by 780 nm laser is introduced, where Zeeman splitting, Doppler broadening, and relaxation processes are considered. Experimental results are carefully compared with the derivation. The results prove that the optimal pumping frequency is affected by the working magnetic field. The population distribution among all hyperfine Zeeman sublevels under the optimal pumping frequency has also been obtained, which shows that 85Rb atoms are the main contribution to the population. The peak transmittance above 90% is obtained, which is in accordance with the experiment. The calculation also shows that the asymmetric spectra observed in the experiment are caused by the unbalanced population distribution among Zeeman sublevels. This theoretical model can be used for all kinds of calculations for FADOF.

Faraday laser using 1.2 km fiber as an extended cavity

We demonstrate a Faraday laser using a 1.2 km fiber as an extended cavity, which provides optical feedback and obtains small free spectrum range (FSR) of 83 kHz, and have succeeded in limiting the laser frequency to a crossover transition of the natural 87Rb at 780 nm. The Faraday laser is based on a Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF) with an ultra-narrow bandwidth and the long fiber extended cavity of 1.2 km. The peak transmission assigned to the crossover transition in the FADOF is 20.5% with an ultra-narrow bandwidth of 29.1 MHz. The Allan deviation of the Faraday laser is around in 0.06 to 1 s sampling time. Laser frequency is always kept in the center of the transmitted peak assigned to . The Faraday laser realized here can provide light exactly resonant with an atomic transition used for atom–photon interaction experiments and is insensitive to diode temperature and injection current fluctuations.

Cs 728 nm excited state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter with indirect pump

We demonstrate a Cs excited state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (ESFADOF) operating at 728 nm using a novel pump method, by which the pump beam and the probe beam in the ESFADOF realized here have no a common energy level. Using this method, the ESFADOF achieves a transmission of 2.39% with a bandwidth of 22.52 MHz, which can be applied to both laser frequency stabilization and future four-level active optical clocks. Under the 455 nm laser pump, in addition to 52D5/2, other states such as 72S1/2, 72P3/2, 62P3/2, 62P1/2 and 52D3/2 have also been populated effectively. Meanwhile, multiple wavelength filters exploiting atomic transitions to these states can be realized.

An atomic spectrum recorded with a single-molecule light source

A single molecule under cryogenic conditions allows one to realize an extremely bright and simultaneously narrow-band single-photon source. We present a review on the different excitation schemes of a single molecule and present the corresponding single-photon nature of the emitted light. Single-molecule spectroscopy has been recently interlinked with atomic spectroscopy. This optical interconnect among the different quantum systems might be enhanced by a so-called Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter—an ideal tool for many experiments in quantum optics. We introduce our theoretical and experimental approach on these filters which are based on hot atomic sodium vapor. The electrical tunability together with the brightness of a single molecule allows us to record a full atomic spectrum of this filter with the single photons originating from a single-molecular emitter.

Diode laser operating on an atomic transition limited by an isotope ⁸⁷Rb Faraday filter at 780 nm.

We demonstrate an extended cavity Faraday laser system using an antireflection-coated laser diode as the gain medium and the isotope (87)Rb Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF) as the frequency selective device. Using this method, the laser wavelength works stably at the highest transmission peak of the isotope (87)Rb FADOF over the laser diode current from 55 to 140 mA and the temperature from 15°C to 35°C. Neither the current nor the temperature of the laser diode has significant influence on the output frequency. Compared with previous extended cavity laser systems operating at frequencies irrelevant to spectacular atomic transition lines, the laser system realized here provides a stable laser source with the frequency operating on atomic transitions for many practical applications.

Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter at ^133Cs weak 459 nm transition

A 459 nm Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF) working at the side wings of the cesium 6S1/2→7P1/2 transition with weak oscillator strength is achieved. The transmittance of the higher side wing reaches 98% at a temperature of 179°C and magnetic field above 323 G. The experimental results coincide with the theoretical predictions in 1982 and 1995, which were not realized in experiments for over three decades. Due to its high transmittance, high accuracy, and narrow linewidth, the 459 nm FADOF can be applied in underwater optical communications, the building of active optical clocks, and laser frequency stabilization in active optical clocks.

Population Distribution of Excited States in Cs Electrodeless Discharge Lamp**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11074011 and 91436210.

We measure the intensity of fluorescence spectral lines of Cs atoms in an electrodeless discharge lamp from visible light to the near-infrared region of 400–1000 nm. To build an excited state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter, the population ratios between the excited states are calculated by rate equations and the spontaneous transition probabilities. The electrodeless discharge lamp with populations in the excited states can be used to realize the frequency stabilization reference for lasers at multiwavelength and the excited state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter for submarine communication applications in blue—green wavelengths to simplify the system.

Atomic filtering for hybrid continuous-variable/discrete-variable quantum optics.

We demonstrate atomic filtering of frequency-degenerate photon pairs from a sub-threshold optical parametric oscillator (OPO). The filter, a modified Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF), achieves 70% peak transmission simultaneous with 57 dB out-of-band rejection and a 445 MHz transmission bandwidth. When applied to the OPO output, only the degenerate mode, containing one-mode squeezed vacuum, falls in the filter pass-band; all other modes are strongly suppressed. The high transmission preserves non-classical continuous-variable features, e.g. squeezing or non-gaussianity, while the high spectral purity allows reliable discrete-variable detection and heralding. Correlation and atomic absorption measurements indicate a spectral purity of 96% for the individual photons, and 98% for the photon pairs. These capabilities will enable generation of atom-resonant hybrid states, e.g. "Schrödinger kittens" obtained by photon subtraction from squeezed vacuum, making these exotic states available for quantum networking and atomic quantum metrology applications.

Na-Faraday rotation filtering: the optimal point.

Narrow-band optical filtering is required in many spectroscopy applications to suppress unwanted background light. One example is quantum communication where the fidelity is often limited by the performance of the optical filters. This limitation can be circumvented by utilizing the GHz-wide features of a Doppler broadened atomic gas. The anomalous dispersion of atomic vapours enables spectral filtering. These, so-called, Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filters (FADOFs) can be by far better than any commercial filter in terms of bandwidth, transition edge and peak transmission. We present a theoretical and experimental study on the transmission properties of a sodium vapour based FADOF with the aim to find the best combination of optical rotation and intrinsic loss. The relevant parameters, such as magnetic field, temperature, the related optical depth, and polarization state are discussed. The non-trivial interplay of these quantities defines the net performance of the filter. We determine analytically the optimal working conditions, such as transmission and the signal to background ratio and validate the results experimentally. We find a single global optimum for one specific optical path length of the filter. This can now be applied to spectroscopy, guide star applications, or sensing.

The filtering characteristics of potassium Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter in a strong magnetic field

This paper discusses in detail the effect of magnetic field on the filtering behaviour of potassium D2 line Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF) when the working temperature and the length of the cell are fixed. The transmission spectra were measured in different magnetic fields and line-centre operation transmission spectrum was obtained under the predicted optimal working condition.

Isotope ⁸⁷Rb Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter at 420 nm.

We demonstrate a Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF) operating on 5S(1/2)-6P(3/2) transition at 420 nm with a 5 cm long cell of 96.5% enriched 87Rb and measure the transmission as a function of the magnetic field and temperature. The isotope 87Rb FADOF achieves a peak transmission of 98% with a bandwidth of 2.5 GHz when the temperature of the isotope 87Rb cell is 280°C and the magnetic field is 500 G. The corresponding equivalent noise bandwidth is 5.9 GHz. The isotope 87Rb FADOF is applied to submarine communications, is used as the laser frequency stabilization for some atomic lines, and is also used as the pump laser in four-level Rb active optical clock.

An atomic optical filter working at 15 μm based on internal frequency stabilized laser pumping

An excited state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (ES-FADOF) working at the optical communication wavelength (1.5 μm) is realized. Unlike the usual ES-FADOF schemes using an external frequency stabilization, an internal frequency stabilization scheme is proposed and the working atoms inside the filter are adopted as the reference. A particular cross line of multiple transitions is used for the frequency stabilization for the pump laser and thus, a higher pump efficiency is achieved. For example, compared with previous ES-FADOF schemes, this method can increase the transmittance from 10% to 60% at 100 °C. Moreover, in this scheme, the external frequency stabilization is not necessary and the volume of the atomic filter can be reduced. This simplifies the whole structure and a compact ES-FADOF can thus be realized.

Excited state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filters based on indirect laser pumping

The direct pump method now used in excited state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filters (ES-FADOFs) requires that the transition between the target and the ground state is an electric dipole allowed transition and that a laser that operates at the exact pump wavelength is available. This is not always satisfied in practice. An indirect laser pump method for ES-FADOF is proposed and experimentally realized. Compared with the commonly used direct pump method, this indirect pump method can reach the same performance using lasers at very different wavelengths. This method can greatly extend the wavelength range of FADOF and provide a novel scheme for ES-FADOF design.

Global evolution of an analyzer angle on the Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter at 1529 nm

In order to realize laser frequency stabilization, the global evolution of an analyzer angle on the electrodeless-discharge-vapor-lamp-based excited-state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (LESFADOF) with a single transmission peak operating on the Rb1529 nm (5P3/2-4D5/2) is presented. We find that the transmission of the line center peak at −80° arrives at 14% in a 3 cm length lamp contained natural Rb mixed with 2 torr Xe buffer gas operating at 250°C with 176 MHz radio frequency. When it is used to realize laser frequency stabilization, the LESFADOF at near −80° is appropriate. Whether a single transmission peak or double transmission peaks depend on the rf voltage when two polarizers are crossed.