Low noise laser for optically pumped cesium standards

Author

Lewis, L.L.

Author_Institution

Ball Commun. Syst. Div., Broomfield, CO, USA

fYear

1989

fDate

31 May-2 Jun 1989

Firstpage

151

Lastpage

157

Abstract

An external cavity diode laser is developed for optical pumping and detection of a cesium atomic beam. The laser is about 2×4×5 cm in size, is tunable to any wavelength over a 40-nm range, and emits two collimated beams of light with power outputs to 6 mW each. The laser spectrum consists of a single longitudinal mode with every narrow linewidth. When locked to a single hyperfine transition in atomic cesium, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for fluorescence detection of the transition far exceeds the SNR observed when an unmodified laser diode is used

Keywords

atomic clocks; measurement standards; optical pumping; semiconductor junction lasers; 2 to 5 cm; 6 mW; SNR; collimated beams of light; external cavity diode laser; fluorescence detection; frequency standards; hyperfine transition; laser spectrum; low noise laser; narrow linewidth; optical pumping; optically pumped Cs standards; power outputs; signal-to-noise ratio; single longitudinal mode; size; tunable; Atom optics; Atomic beams; Diode lasers; Laser excitation; Laser mode locking; Laser noise; Laser transitions; Optical noise; Optical pumping; Pump lasers;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Frequency Control, 1989., Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Symposium on

Conference_Location

Denver, CO

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/FREQ.1989.68850

Filename

68850