Low vibration sensitivity fiber spools for laser stabilization

Mechanical vibration induced frequency noise is dominated at low Fourier frequencies in a fiber spool stabilized laser. Environmental vibration causes mechanical deformations in the fiber which induce phase fluctuations and then convert into excess frequency noise to the lasers. Therefore, the spool which supports the fiber plays a critical role in this frequency noise conversion. We have studied several different structures of spool. The preliminary results are about 3×10^-10/m s^-2 for accelerations along the spool axis. In this paper, we describe the development of a spool design which is optimized for low vibration sensitivity along all spatial directions. Both simulations by Finite Element Modeling (FEM) and vibration sensitivity measurements are presented.