Frequency stability of spatial mode interference (tilt) locking

Author

Slagmolen, B.J.J. ; Shaddock, D.A. ; Gray, M.B. ; McClelland, D.E.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys., Australian Nat. Univ., Canberra, ACT, Australia

Volume

38

Issue

11

fYear

2002

fDate

11/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1521

Lastpage

1528

Abstract

This paper describes the investigation of the frequency stability of tilt locking, a technique which derives an error signal for locking a laser to an optical cavity by use of spatial-mode interference. By independently locking two lasers to the same optical cavity and measuring the beat frequency, a direct measurement of the stability of tilt locking was obtained. The beatnote exhibited a normal Allan deviation of 3.3 Hz over a time interval of 100 ms, yielding a relative frequency stability of 1.3 × 10^-14. This result implies at least a fractional locking stability of 1.3 × 10^-14. Moreover, this stability was limited by fluctuations in the cavity spacer length and not the tilt-locking technique.

Keywords

fluctuations; laser frequency stability; laser mode locking; light interference; optical resonators; 100 ms; 3.3 Hz; beat frequency; cavity spacer length; error signal; fluctuations; fractional locking stability; frequency stability; independently locking; laser frequency locking; normal Allan deviation; optical cavity; relative frequency stability; spatial mode interference locking; spatial-mode interference; tilt locking; tilt-locking technique; Extraterrestrial measurements; Fluctuations; Frequency conversion; Frequency measurement; Interference; Laser mode locking; Laser stability; Optical interferometry; Optical sensors; Stability analysis;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JQE.2002.804267

Filename

1043351