Laser Frequency Stabilization Research Articles

Pound–Drever–Hall feedforward: laser phase noise suppression beyond feedback

Pound–Drever–Hall (PDH) laser frequency stabilization is a powerful technique widely used for building narrow linewidth lasers. This technique is, however, ineffective in suppressing high-frequency (>100kHz) laser phase noise detrimental for many applications. Here, we introduce an effective method that can greatly enhance its high-frequency performance. The idea is to recycle the residual PDH signal of a laser locked to a cavity by feedforwarding it directly to the laser output field after a delay fiber. Using this straightforward method, we demonstrate a phase noise suppression capability about four orders of magnitude better than just using the usual PDH feedback for noise around a few MHz. We further find that this method exhibits noise suppression performance equivalent to cavity filtering. This method holds great promise for applications demanding highly stable lasers with diminished phase noise up to tens of MHz (e.g., precise and high-speed control of atomic and molecular quantum states).

Simplified 1.5 μm Distributed Feedback Semiconductor Laser (DFB-LD) Frequency Stabilization System Based on Gas Absorption Chamber

The classical 1.5 μm band frequency-stabilized laser using acetylene gas saturated absorption can achieve high frequency stability and reproducibility, but its system design is complex and bulky. For some practical applications, a simple, compact system containing anti-interference abilities is preferred. In this study, a low-cost and simple-structured 1.5 μm frequency-stabilized laser is constructed using digital control methods, wavelength modulation technology, and acetylene gas absorption. The fiber input and output optical devices of the system significantly simplify the optical path and reduce the volume of the system. The error signal is obtained by the first-order differential method, and a combination of the high-speed comparator circuit and the microcontroller unit (MCU) is used to detect the error signal. Through the feedback control method of coarse temperature adjustment and fine current adjustment, the second-level frequency stability of the laser is stabilized within 100 kHz, that is, the frequency stability reaches 10​−10. The designed system achieved continuous and stable operation for more than 6 h, and the long-term frequency stability reached 10​−9.

Laser frequency stabilization for continuous-wave laser enhanced direct frequency comb spectroscopy system

We present the observation of high-precision direct frequency comb spectroscopy excited by an optical frequency comb and a diode laser when each of them drives one step of the two-photon transition in a rubidium vapor system. We demonstrate a stable and low noise system by directly locking the frequency of the continuous-wave laser to the rubidium two-photon transition. The frequency stability of a diode laser via the two-photon transition locking technique is 8 × 10−11 for a 1 s gate time and 3 × 10−12 for 1000 s. It proves to be a potential technique for locking the diode laser with high stability. We chose a suitable optical frequency comb pulse and the frequency of the diode laser to fulfill the double-resonance condition. These techniques eliminate spectrum line overlap and would benefit spectroscopy measurements.

Martian column CO2 and pressure measurement with spaceborne differential absorption lidar at 1.96 µm

Abstract. By utilizing progress in millijoule-level pulsed fiber lasers operating in the 1.96 µm spectral range, we introduce a concept utilizing a spaceborne differential absorption barometric lidar designed to operate within the 1.96 µm CO2 absorption band for remote sensing of Martian atmospheric properties. Our focus is on the online wavelength situated in the trough region of two absorption lines, selected due to its insensitivity to laser frequency variations, thus mitigating the necessity for stringent laser frequency stability. Our investigation revolves around a compact lidar configuration, featuring reduced telescope dimensions and lower laser pulse energies. These adjustments are geared towards minimizing costs for potential forthcoming Mars missions. The core measurement objectives encompass the determination of column CO2 absorption optical depth, columnar CO2 abundance, surface atmospheric pressure, and vertical distributions of dust and cloud layers. Through the amalgamation of surface pressure data with atmospheric temperature insights garnered from sounders and utilizing the barometric formula, the prospect of deducing atmospheric pressure profiles becomes feasible. Simulation studies validate the viability of our approach. Notably, the precision of Martian surface pressure measurements is projected to surpass 1 Pa when the aerial dust optical depth is projected to be under 0.7, a typical airborne dust scenario on Mars, considering a horizontal averaging span of 10 km.

Dynamic exploration of laser linewidth compression in resonant feedback external-cavity laser

An external-cavity laser with resonant optical feedback is a common and mature method to achieve narrow linewidth lasers. Since the proposal of optical feedback in 1964, a series of studies on resonant optical feedback have been reported. Although longer feedback length leads to narrower linewidth, it also introduces coupling of environmental noise and causes instability in the laser cavity, which is detrimental to high-speed tuning of the laser wavelength. With such a challenge, current research on resonant optical feedback primarily focuses on the static results of laser linewidth compression. In order to obtain narrow linewidth high-speed tuned external-cavity lasers, further research on the laser dynamics is required to obtain dynamic tuning of narrow linewidth external-cavity lasers. In this work, we construct an external-cavity laser based on resonant optical feedback, and utilize a coherent detection method to measure the dynamic process of laser linewidth compression and wavelength tuning. Based on resonant optical feedback from the external cavity, the linewidth of the main-cavity laser can be compressed from near 100 kHz to the 100 Hz level, with the frequency noise compressed from the order of 104 to the 102 Hz2/Hz level. Since the wavelength switching process includes frequency shift process, linewidth compression process, and frequency stabilization process, etc., we first conduct a research on laser linewidth compression dynamics. In the results of linewidth compression dynamics, we discover that using a shorter fiber ring results in shorter linewidth compression time, which is advantageous for laser dynamic tuning. We subsequently carry out the laser wavelength switching process with a main-cavity switching time in milliseconds. In the wavelength switching process, while undergoing the frequency shift process of fast tuning transient laser frequency, the laser first undergoes the linewidth broadening process, then enters the main-cavity laser frequency stabilization process and undergoes the linewidth compression process at the same time. The experimental results show that the 100 m feedback fiber ring will not significantly increase the external-cavity laser wavelength switching time under the condition that linewidth compression is faster than main-cavity laser switching, while a longer fiber ring will introduce a strong noise. Our work experimentally demonstrates that shorter feedback ring lengths lead to faster compression, which provides valuable insights for the development of high-speed and high-precision tunable narrow linewidth external-cavity lasers.

Review and experimental benchmarking of machine learning algorithms for efficient optimization of cold atom experiments

The generation of cold atom clouds is a complex process which involves the optimization of noisy data in high dimensional parameter spaces. Optimization can be challenging both in and especially outside of the lab due to lack of time, expertise, or access for lengthy manual optimization. In recent years, it was demonstrated that machine learning offers a solution since it can optimize high dimensional problems quickly, without knowledge of the experiment itself. In this paper we present results showing the benchmarking of nine different optimization techniques and implementations, alongside their ability to optimize a rubidium (Rb) cold atom experiment. The investigations are performed on a 3D 87Rb molasses with 10 and 18 adjustable parameters, respectively, where the atom number obtained by absorption imaging was chosen as the test problem. We further compare the best performing optimizers under different effective noise conditions by reducing the signal-to-noise ratio of the images via adapting the atomic vapor pressure in the 2D+ magneto-optical trap and the detection laser frequency stability.

Near-infrared dual-gas sensor for simultaneous detection of CO and CH4 using a double spot-ring plane-concave multipass cell and a digital laser frequency stabilization system

A novel double spot-ring plane-concave multipass cell (DSPC-MPC) gas sensor was proposed for simultaneous detection of trace gases, which has lower cost and higher mirror utilization than the traditional multipass cell with 129 m, 107 m, 85 m, 63 m and 40 m effective optical path lengths adjustable. The performance of the DSPC-MPC gas sensor was evaluated by measuring CO and CH4 using two narrow linewidth distributed feedback lasers with center wavelengths of 1567 nm and 1653 nm, respectively. An adjustable digital PID laser frequency stabilization system based on LabVIEW platform was developed to continuously stabilize the laser frequency within ∼±30.3 MHz. The Allan deviation results showed that the minimum detection limits for CO and CH4 were 0.07 ppmv and 0.008 ppmv at integration times of 711 s and 245 s, respectively. The proposed concept of DSPC-MPC provides more ideas for the realization of gas detection under different absorption path lengths and the development of multi-component gas sensing systems.

Modulation transfer spectroscopy of the D1 transition of potassium: theory and experiment

We report on a study of modulation transfer spectroscopy of the 4S1/2→4P1/2 (D1) transition of naturally abundant potassium in a room-temperature vapour cell. This transition is critical for laser cooling and optical pumping of potassium and our study is therefore motivated by the need for robust laser frequency stabilisation. Despite the absence of a closed transition, the small ground-state hyperfine splitting in potassium results in strong crossover features in the D1 modulation transfer spectrum. To emphasise this we compare the D1 and D2 spectra of potassium with those of rubidium. Further, we compare our experimental results with a detailed theoretical simulation, examining different pump–probe polarisation configurations to identify the optimal signals for laser frequency stabilisation. We find good agreement between the experiment and the theory, especially for the lin∥lin polarisation configuration.

Modulation-free laser stabilization technique using integrated cavity-coupled Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Stable lasers play a significant role in precision optical systems where an electro-optic laser frequency stabilization system, such as the Pound-Drever-Hall technique, measures laser frequency and actively stabilizes it by comparing it to a frequency reference. Despite their excellent performance, there has been a trade-off between complexity, scalability, and noise measurement sensitivity. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a modulation-free laser stabilization method using an integrated cavity-coupled Mach-Zehnder interferometer as a frequency noise discriminator. The proposed architecture maintains the sensitivity of the Pound-Drever-Hall architecture without the need for any modulation. This significantly simplifies the architecture and makes miniaturization into an integrated photonic platform easier. The implemented chip suppresses the frequency noise of a semiconductor laser by 4 orders-of-magnitude using an on-chip silicon microresonator with a quality factor of 2.5 × 106. The implemented passive photonic chip occupies an area of 0.456 mm2 and is integrated on AIM Photonics 100 nm silicon-on-insulator process.

Analysis of the interaction-length dependence of frequency stability in an iodine-stabilized Nd:YAG laser.

We report a numerical simulation and an experimental study on the interaction-length dependence of frequency stability in an iodine-stabilized neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser. A saturation spectroscopy model was used in the simulation to calculate the interaction-length dependence of the linewidth and signal-to-noise ratio of the iodine saturation spectrum. We determined that 2m was the optimal interaction length for laser-frequency stabilization. We confirmed the simulation results by performing modulation transfer spectroscopy and laser-frequency stabilization using 45-cm- and 2-m-long iodine cells and multipass configurations. The results of this study are useful for designing compact and highly stable iodine-stabilized lasers.

Coherent photo-thermal noise cancellation in a dual-wavelength optical cavity for narrow-linewidth laser frequency stabilisation.

Optical resonators are used for the realisation of ultra-stable frequency lasers. The use of high reflectivity multi-band coatings allows the frequency locking of several lasers of different wavelengths to a single cavity. While the noise processes for single wavelength cavities are well known, the correlation caused by multi-stack coatings has as yet not been analysed experimentally. In our work, we stabilise the frequency of a 729 nm and a 1069 nm laser to one mirror pair and determine the residual-amplitude modulation (RAM) and photo-thermal noise (PTN). We find correlations in PTN between the two lasers and observe coherent cancellation of PTN for the 1069 nm coating. We show that the fractional frequency instability of the 729 nm laser is limited by RAM at 1 × 10-14. The instability of the 1069 nm laser is at 3 × 10-15 close to the thermal noise limit of 1.5 × 10-15.

Laser frequency stabilization with the use of homodyne quadrature interferometers

Laser frequency stabilization is a crucial technique for precision metrology. We demonstrate laser frequency control using a compact, interferometric sensor, specially modified for sensitivity to laser frequency noise. This setup achieves a balance between compact size, ease of use, and affordability. We stabilize the laser frequency noise, of a low-cost solid-state laser, to 4.5 kHz Hz−1 at 1 Hz. The requirement for additional technology, and expense, is negated when identical, compact, interferometric sensors are deployed. The use of compact interferometric sensors is already a technology under investigation for integration into gravitational-wave observatories and out study enables wider applications by mitigating a fundamental noise source, inherent to their design.

Laser frequency stabilization by modulation transfer spectroscopy and balanced detection of molecular iodine for laser cooling of 174Yb.

We report laser frequency stabilization by the combination of modulation transfer spectroscopy and balanced detection of a relatively weak hyperfine transition of the R(158)25-0 line of molecular iodine (127I2), which is used as a new frequency reference for laser trapping and cooling of 174Yb on the 1S0 - 3P1 transition. The atomic cloud is characterized by time-of-flight measurements, and an on-resonance optical depth of up to 47 is obtained. We show laser noise reduction and characterize the short-term laser frequency instability by the Allan deviation of the laser fractional frequency. The minimum measured value is 3.9 ×10-13 at 0.17 s of averaging time.

An upgrade of the primary length standard of Republic of Serbia where digital stabilization is performed by Arduino Due board.

An upgrade of the electronic system for frequency stabilization of the HeNe laser, primary length standard of Republic of Serbia, based on digital electronics, is described. Arduino microcontrollers have been used for stabilization, and laptop computer has been used only to communicate with the user. In addition, an analog electronics has been developed in order to boost the performance of the setup. The setup is simple and inexpensive, made of off-the-shelf electronics components. Despite this, good performances have been achieved.

Towards space-deployable laser stabilization systems based on vibration-insensitive cubic cavities with crystalline coatings.

We present the development of a transportable laser frequency stabilization system with application to both optical clocks and a next-generation gravity mission (NGGM) in space. This effort leverages a 5-cm long cubic cavity with crystalline coatings operating at room temperature and with a center wavelength of 1064 nm. The cavity is integrated in a custom vacuum chamber with dedicated low-noise locking electronics. Our vacuum-mounted cavity and control system are well suited for space applications, exhibiting state-of-the-art noise performance while being resilient to radiation exposure, vibration, shock, and temperature variations. Furthermore, we demonstrate a robust means of automatically (re)locking the laser to the cavity when resonance is lost. We show that the mounted cavity is capable of reaching technology readiness level (TRL) 6, paving the way for high-performance ultrastable laser systems and eventually optical atomic clocks amenable to future satellite platforms.

Using gravitational light deflection in optical cavities for laser frequency stabilization

Using gravitational light deflection in optical cavities for laser frequency stabilization

Optimizing frequency noise calibration and manipulation in an active feedback control loop

Frequency noise is a key limitation factor for frequency sensitive ultra-high precision measurement. An excellent methodology for its calibration is the error signal extracting from a cavity length locking process via Pound–Drever–Hall (PDH) technique, and also can be applied as a noise discriminator for active feedback control. However, the stabilized laser frequency noise performance was poor to meet the applications for ultra-high precision measurement, and no literature has analyzed the cause in detail. In this Letter, we found that various of noise floors in the in-loop sensing and modulation depth in the PDH error signal should be responsible for the poor noise performance. Meanwhile, differing from the theoretical prediction (1.08), the modulation depth in frequency noise feedback controlling should be optimized by simultaneously considering the detector’s gain and saturation power, cavity impedance matching, and control loop gain. In our case, it was fixed to be 0.17. The experimental results confirm our theoretical analysis well. Finally, the stabilized laser frequency noises are reduced to 10−1Hz/Hz for out-of-loop and 3×10−2Hz/Hz for in-loop. The results demonstrate an efficient settlement solution for active frequency noise feedback control.

Synthetic FM triplet for AM-free precision laser stabilization and spectroscopy

The Pound–Drever–Hall (PDH) cavity-locking scheme has found prevalent uses in precision optical interferometry and laser frequency stabilization. A form of frequency modulation spectroscopy, PDH enjoys superior signal-to-noise recovery, large acquisition dynamic range, wide servo bandwidth, and robust rejection of spurious effects. However, residual amplitude modulation at the signal frequency, while significantly suppressed, still presents an important concern for further advancing the state-of-the-art performances. Here we present a simplified and improved scheme for PDH using an acousto-optic modulator to generate digital phase reference sidebands instead of the traditionally used electro-optic modulator approach. We demonstrate four key advantages: (1) the carrier and two modulation tones are individually synthesized and easily reconfigured, (2) robust and orthogonal control of the modulated optical field is applied directly to the amplitude and phase quadratures, (3) modulation synthesis, demodulation, and feedback are implemented in a self-contained and easily reproducible electronic unit, and (4) superior active and passive control of residual amplitude modulation is achieved, especially when the carrier power is vanishingly low. These distinct merits stimulate new ideas on how we optimally enact PDH for a wide range of applications.

Simple three-stage frequency-stabilized diode laser system using injection-locking and tapered amplifier

Simple three-stage frequency-stabilized diode laser system using injection-locking and tapered amplifier

Laser-cavity locking utilizing beam ellipticity: accessing the 10−7 instability scale relative to cavity linewidth

Frequency-stable lasers form the back bone of precision measurements in science and technology. Such lasers typically attain their stability through frequency locking to reference cavities. State-of-the-art locking performances to date had been achieved using frequency modulation based methods, complemented with active drift cancellation systems. We demonstrate an all passive, modulation-free laser-cavity locking technique (squash locking) that utilizes changes in spatial beam ellipticity for error signal generation, and a coherent polarization post-selection for noise resilience. By comparing two identically built proof-of-principle systems, we show a frequency locking instability of 5×10−7 relative to the cavity linewidth at 10 s averaging. The results surpass the demonstrated performances of methods engineered over the last five decades, potentially enabling an advancement in the precision control of lasers, while creating avenues for bridging the performance gaps between industrial grade lasers with scientific ones due to the afforded simplicity and scalability.