Analysis of frequency noise properties of 729nm extended cavity diode laser with unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Tuan M. Pham; Martin Čížek; Václav Hucl; Josef Lazar; Jan Hrabina; Šimon Řeřucha; Adam Lešundák; Petr Obšil; Radim Filip; Lukáš Slodička; Ondřej Číp

doi:10.1117/12.2264455

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23 December 2016 Analysis of frequency noise properties of 729nm extended cavity diode laser with unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Tuan M. Pham, Martin Čížek, Václav Hucl, Josef Lazar, Jan Hrabina, Šimon Řeřucha, Adam Lešundák, Petr Obšil, Radim Filip, Lukáš Slodička, Ondřej Číp

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Proceedings Volume 10142, 20th Slovak-Czech-Polish Optical Conference on Wave and Quantum Aspects of Contemporary Optics; 101420E (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2264455
Event: 20th Slovak-Czech-Polish Optical Conference on Wave and Quantum Aspects of Contemporary Optics, 2016, Jasna, Slovakia

Abstract

We report on the frequency noise investigation of a linewidth-suppressed Extended Cavity Diode Laser (ECDL), working at 729 nm. Since the ECDL is intended as an excitation laser for the forbidden transition in a trapped and laser cooled ⁴⁰Ca⁺ ion, an Hz-level linewidth is required. We present the experimental design that comprises a two-stage linewidth narrowing and a facility for frequency and noise analysis. The linewidth is first narrowed with a phase lock loop of the ECDL onto a selected component of an optical frequency comb where the frequency noise was suppressed with a fast electronic servo-loop controller that drives the laser injection current with a high bandwidth. The second stage comprises locking the laser onto a selected mode of a high-finesse passive optical cavity. The frequency analysis used an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a fiber spool inserted in the reference arm in order to give a general insight into the signal properties by mixing two separated beams, one of them delayed by the spool, and processing it with a spectral analyzer. Such a frequency noise analysis reveals what are the most significant noises contributions to the laser linewidth, which is a crucial information in field of ion trapping and cooling. The presented experimental results show the effect of the linewidth narrowing with the first stage, where the linewidth of ECDL was narrowed down to a kHz level.

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Tuan M. Pham, Martin Čížek, Václav Hucl, Josef Lazar, Jan Hrabina, Šimon Řeřucha, Adam Lešundák, Petr Obšil, Radim Filip, Lukáš Slodička, and Ondřej Číp "Analysis of frequency noise properties of 729nm extended cavity diode laser with unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer", Proc. SPIE 10142, 20th Slovak-Czech-Polish Optical Conference on Wave and Quantum Aspects of Contemporary Optics, 101420E (23 December 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2264455

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