Abstract
We demonstrate modulation-based frequency locking of an external cavity diode laser, utilizing a piezo-electrically actuated mirror, external to the laser cavity, to create an error signal from saturated absorption spectroscopy. With this method, a laser stabilized to a rubidium hyperfine transition has a FWHM of over seconds, making the locked laser suitable for experiments in atomic physics, such as creating and manipulating Bose–Einstein condensates. This technique combines the advantages of low-amplitude modulation, simplicity, performance, and price, factors that are usually considered to be mutually exclusive.
© 2008 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
Ayan Banerjee, Dipankar Das, Umakant D. Rapol, and Vasant Natarajan
Appl. Opt. 43(12) 2528-2531 (2004)
David J. Hopper and Esa Jaatinen
Appl. Opt. 47(14) 2574-2582 (2008)
N. P. Robins, B. J. J. Slagmolen, D. A. Shaddock, J. D. Close, and M. B. Gray
Opt. Lett. 27(21) 1905-1907 (2002)