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arXiv:1008.0229 · Physical Review A

Hybrid optical and electronic laser locking using slow light due to spectral holes

Jian Wei Tay, Warrick G. Farr, Patrick M. Ledingham, Dmitry Korystov, Jevon J. Longdell

Published Jun 17, 2013• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report on a narrow linewidth laser diode system that is stabilized using both optical and electronic feedback to a spectral hole in cryogenic Tm:YAG. The large group delay of the spectral hole leads to a laser with very low phase noise. The laser has proved useful for quantum optics and sensing applications involving cryogenic rare-earth-ion dopants.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.87.063824

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We report on a narrow linewidth laser diode system that is stabilized using both optical and electronic feedback to a spectral hole in cryogenic Tm:YAG. The large group delay of the spectral hole leads to a laser with very low phase noise. The laser has proved useful for quantum optics and sensing applications involving cryogenic rare-earth-ion dopants.
In this thesis the application of slow light effects to the area of laser stabilisation is investigated. The frequency stability of lasers locked to external cavities is limited by the stability of the modes in the reference cavity. By using dispersive slow light effects the effective length of a cavity can be increased by several orders of magnitude, without a proportional increase in the sensitivity to fluctuations in cavity length, thereby yielding a net increase in stability. The effects are achieved through spectral hole burning in cryogenically cooled rare-earth ion doped crystals. Two sets of experiments are carried out, the first focusing on hole burning and the second focusing laser locking. Linewidths and frequency drift of the cavity spectrum are studied. Feedback control using an error signal generated from the slow light cavity is demonstrated, but successfully locking the laser is still yet to be achieved.
Spectral hole burning in rare earth doped crystal can provide frequency references based on the optical transition of the dopant ions [1] . The narrow spectral patterns can be used to improve laser frequency stabilization [2] , [3] and provide a new generation of ultra-stable lasers with lower thermal noise benefiting from the cryogenic environment and better quality factor of the crystal than the amorphous glass typically used in the Fabry-Perot cavity. We utilize Europium doped yttrium silicon oxide (Eu:YSO) in our experiments, which allow realization of long lived (hours or more depending on temperature) narrow spectral holes ( kHz or less) well suited for high precision experiment applications. We will describe our novel double-heterodyne detection method [4] , used to decrease the detection noise, as well as experiments assessing quantitatively the sensitivity of the spectral pattern to crystal deformation [5] , [6] , application of electric field [7] and temperature fluctuations. We currently demonstrate a state-of-the-art laser frequency stability at 1.7 × 10 − 15 at 1s [4] , limited by the latter effect, for which improvement strategies have been demonstrated elsewhere [2] and which we are currently implementing. The other effects which we have quantitatively studied are compatible with a few 10 − 18 frequency stability at 1s time scale. This work is particularly promising in the context of optical frequency lattice clocks, for which the ultra-stable laser used for probing the clock transition is a strong limiting factor of the frequency stability.
An electromagnetic wave propagating through an optical fiber is sensitive to external disturbances, such as mechanical vibrations and temperature and pressure fluctuations, which add phase noise onto the wave. For high-precision frequency-based applications this phase noise has to be removed. By partially reflecting light from the remote end of the fiber back through the fiber, and comparing it to light that has not passed through the fiber, their beat note can be phase locked to a stable reference, using an acousto-optic modulator for phase noise compensation. This effectively cancels the phase noise at the remote end of the fiber. In this project, two such fiber noise cancellation systems have been successfully assembled. The fiber noise cancellation systems will be used for laser locking to a slow light crystal cavity. Using spectral hole burning, a very low group velocity can be obtained in rare-earth-ion-doped crystals. By depositing mirrors on such a crystal, it could act as a reference cavity with a very long effective length, but without the increased difficulty of isolating the cavity from mechanical vibrations associated with a physically long cavity. By locking a laser to a slow light crystal cavity, an improved stability could potentially be achieved. A possible setup for slow light crystal cavity laser locking experiments, where the fiber noise cancellation systems have been integrated, is also presented in this thesis.
Lasers with high spectral purity are indispensable for optical clocks and for the coherent manipulation of atomic and molecular qubits in applications such as quantum computing and quantum simulation. While the stabilization of such lasers to a reference can provide a narrow linewidth, the widely used diode lasers exhibit fast phase noise that prevents high-fidelity qubit manipulation. In this paper, we demonstrate a self-injection locked diode laser system that utilizes a high-finesse cavity. This cavity not only provides a stable resonance frequency, it also acts as a low-pass filter for phase noise beyond the cavity linewidth of around 100 kHz, resulting in low phase noise from dc to the injection lock limit. We model the expected laser performance and benchmark it using a single trapped 40 Ca + -ion as a spectrum analyzer. We show that the fast phase noise of the laser at relevant Fourier frequencies of 100 kHz to >2 MHz is suppressed to a noise floor of between −110 dBc/Hz and −120 dBc/Hz, an improvement of 20 to 30 dB over state-of-the-art Pound-Drever-Hall-stabilized extended-cavity diode lasers. This strong suppression avoids incoherent (spurious) spin flips during manipulation of optical qubits and improves laser-driven gates when using diode lasers in applications involving quantum logic spectroscopy, quantum simulation, and quantum computation.
Recent developments in the field of optical clocks and quantum information have fueled the necessity for both fiber phase noise cancellation and laser stabilisation. The Quantum Information group at Lund University is conducting research on quantum computation experiments based on rare earth ion doped crystals and also application of slow light effects induced by spectral hole burning in these rare earth ion doped crystals. Slow light effects can significantly improve laser stabilisation by increasing effective cavity length without inducing mechanical noise. In this thesis a fiber phase noise cancellation setup was designed and built. The fiber stabilisation will be used in a setup where a laser is stabilised using a slow light crystal cavity as frequency reference and a setup was designed for this application. By partially reflecting back light through a fiber and by performing a phase measurement and through feedback control, the fiber phase noise can be effectively cancelled. A method for first creating a slow light crystal cavity and then locking the laser to one of the resonance peaks of the cavity was planned and designed incorporating two fiber locking setups for phase noise cancellation. Suitable components for building the system was investigated and put together. Fiber locking experiment was then carried out.
Lasers with high spectral purity are indispensable for optical clocks and coherent manipulation of atomic and molecular qubits for applications such as quantum computing and quantum simulation. Stabilisation of the laser to a reference can provide a narrow linewidth and high spectral purity. However, widely-used diode lasers exhibit fast phase noise that prevents high fidelity qubit manipulation. Here we demonstrate a self-injection locked diode laser system utilizing a medium finesse cavity. The cavity not only provides a stable resonance frequency, but at the same time acts as a low-pass filter for phase noise beyond the cavity linewidth of around 100 kHz, resulting in low phase noise from dc to the injection lock limit. We model the expected laser performance and benchmark it using a single trapped 40^{40}40Ca+^{+}+-ion as a spectrum analyser. We show that the fast phase noise of the laser at relevant Fourier frequencies of 100 kHz to >2 MHz is suppressed to a noise floor of between -110 dBc/Hz and -120 dBc/Hz, an improvement of 20 to 30 dB over state-of-the-art Pound-Drever-Hall-stabilized extended-cavity diode lasers. This strong suppression avoids incoherent (spurious) spin flips during manipulation of optical qubits and improves laser-driven gates in using diode lasers with applications in quantum logic spectroscopy, quantum simulation and quantum computation.