Title :
Frequency of a methane-stabilized helium-neon laser
Author :
Whitford, Bradley G. ; Hanes, Garnet R.
Author_Institution :
Nat. Res. Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ont., Canada
fDate :
6/1/1988 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A phase-locked laser frequency chain was used to measure the absolute frequency of a HeNe/CH4 laser relative to the primary Cs standard, with measurement uncertainty less than ±1 part in 1012. The frequency depends on laser parameters; a spread of 8.3×10-11 was observed. This was attributed to the variation of Lamb dip asymmetry resulting from the gas-lens effect and the accompanying diffraction loss variation near resonance. Means of improving laser frequency reproducibility by reducing cavity diffraction loss variation were studied experimentally. The frequency obtained with a cavity exhibiting the smallest Lamb dip asymmetry was found to be 88 376 181 599.07±0.07 kHz
Keywords :
frequency measurement; gas lasers; helium; laser frequency stability; laser variables measurement; neon; organic compounds; Cs; He-Ne; Lamb dip asymmetry; absolute frequency; cavity; diffraction loss variation; frequency measurement; gas-lens effect; laser frequency reproducibility; phase-locked laser frequency chain; resonance; Diffraction; Diodes; Frequency measurement; Gas lasers; Laboratories; Laser stability; Laser theory; Measurement standards; Measurement uncertainty; Phase measurement;
Journal_Title :
Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on
