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Carrier frequency modulation of an acousto-optic modulator for laser stabilization

Carrier frequency modulation of an acousto-optic modulator for laser stabilization
Carrier frequency modulation of an acousto-optic modulator for laser stabilization
The stabilization of lasers to absolute frequency references is a fundamental requirement in several areas of atomic, molecular and optical physics. A range of techniques are available to produce a suitable reference onto which one can ‘lock’ the laser, many of which depend on the specific internal structure of the reference or are sensitive to laser intensity noise. We present a novel method using the frequency modulation of an acousto-optic modulator’s carrier (drive) signal to generate two spatially separated beams, with a frequency difference of only a few MHz. These beams are used to probe a narrow absorption feature and the difference in their detected signals leads to a dispersion-like feature suitable for wavelength stabilization of a diode laser. This simple and versatile method only requires a narrow absorption line and is therefore suitable for both atomic and cavity based stabilization schemes. To demonstrate the suitability of this method we lock an external cavity diode laser near the 85Rb 5S1/2 → 5P3/2, F = 3 → F′ = 4 using sub-Doppler pump probe spectroscopy and also demonstrate excellent agreement between the measured signal and a theoretical model.
1094-4087
12830-12838
Himsworth, Matthew
24e9b896-b4d3-40f7-8047-82a38efa4898
Aldous, Matthew, Ralph Edward
2f1f37e3-6d9a-4cbd-b8c5-fcbf719b35d6
Roy, Ritayan
b73b6155-b144-48c3-8eb6-cffe00e385ef
woods, Jonathan
c5701708-6801-4ade-9419-39f71fe1f97a
Dragomir, Andrei
c4659d42-72a3-4904-af17-b777a5e0d42b
Himsworth, Matthew
24e9b896-b4d3-40f7-8047-82a38efa4898
Aldous, Matthew, Ralph Edward
2f1f37e3-6d9a-4cbd-b8c5-fcbf719b35d6
Roy, Ritayan
b73b6155-b144-48c3-8eb6-cffe00e385ef
woods, Jonathan
c5701708-6801-4ade-9419-39f71fe1f97a
Dragomir, Andrei
c4659d42-72a3-4904-af17-b777a5e0d42b

Himsworth, Matthew, Aldous, Matthew, Ralph Edward, Roy, Ritayan, woods, Jonathan and Dragomir, Andrei (2017) Carrier frequency modulation of an acousto-optic modulator for laser stabilization. Optics Express, 25 (11), 12830-12838. (doi:10.1364/OE.25.012830).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The stabilization of lasers to absolute frequency references is a fundamental requirement in several areas of atomic, molecular and optical physics. A range of techniques are available to produce a suitable reference onto which one can ‘lock’ the laser, many of which depend on the specific internal structure of the reference or are sensitive to laser intensity noise. We present a novel method using the frequency modulation of an acousto-optic modulator’s carrier (drive) signal to generate two spatially separated beams, with a frequency difference of only a few MHz. These beams are used to probe a narrow absorption feature and the difference in their detected signals leads to a dispersion-like feature suitable for wavelength stabilization of a diode laser. This simple and versatile method only requires a narrow absorption line and is therefore suitable for both atomic and cavity based stabilization schemes. To demonstrate the suitability of this method we lock an external cavity diode laser near the 85Rb 5S1/2 → 5P3/2, F = 3 → F′ = 4 using sub-Doppler pump probe spectroscopy and also demonstrate excellent agreement between the measured signal and a theoretical model.

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Accepted/In Press date: 29 March 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 24 May 2017
Organisations: Physics & Astronomy, Quantum, Light & Matter Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 411934
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/411934
ISSN: 1094-4087
PURE UUID: b4b0eab9-e751-48f3-b918-39f911839313

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Date deposited: 30 Jun 2017 16:30
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 14:55

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Contributors

Author: Matthew Himsworth
Author: Matthew, Ralph Edward Aldous
Author: Ritayan Roy
Author: Jonathan woods
Author: Andrei Dragomir

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