Title : 
Survey of atomic transitions for absolute frequency locking of lasers for lightwave systems
         
        
            Author : 
Lucero, A.J. ; Chung, Y.C. ; Tkach, R.W.
         
        
        
        
        
            fDate : 
5/1/1991 12:00:00 AM
         
        
        
        
            Abstract : 
The authors survey 26 excited-state transitions of argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), and neon (Ne) around 1.3 and 1.5 mu m. A 1200-lines-per-mm grating mounted on a piezoelectric translator forms the adjustable reflective element of an external cavity semiconductor laser, reducing the laser linewidth to <100 kHz, and affording tens of nanometers of tunability. The laser may be tuned continuously over a range of approximately 2 GHz between mode hops by scanning the cavity length with the piezoelectric translator. Single-frequency oscillation is verified by the 750 MHz confocal Fabry-Perot, and the wavelength is measured by a wavemeter.<>
         
        
            Keywords : 
atomic excited states; inert gases; laser accessories; laser frequency stability; laser tuning; semiconductor junction lasers; 1.3 micron; 1.5 micron; 750 MHz; Ar; Kr; Ne; absolute frequency locking; adjustable reflective element; atomic transitions; cavity length; confocal Fabry-Perot; excited-state transitions; external cavity semiconductor laser; grating; laser frequency locking; laser linewidth; laser tuning; lightwave systems; mode hops; optogalvanic responses; piezoelectric translator; wavemeter; Argon; Atom lasers; Atomic beams; Frequency; Gratings; Laser excitation; Laser mode locking; Laser transitions; Laser tuning; Semiconductor lasers;
         
        
        
            Journal_Title : 
Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE