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arXiv:1906.00104 · Laser & Photonics Review

Ultranarrow Linewidth Photonic‐Atomic Laser

Wei Zhang, Liron Stern, David R. Carlson, Douglas G. Bopp, Zachary L. Newman, Songbai Kang, John E. Kitching, Scott B. Papp

Published Mar 1, 2020• 73 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract Lasers with high spectral purity can enable a diverse application space, including precision spectroscopy, coherent high‐speed communications, physical sensing, and manipulation of quantum systems. Already, meticulous design and construction of bench Fabry–Perot cavities has made possible dramatic achievements in active laser‐linewidth reduction, predominantly for optical‐atomic clocks. Yet, there is increasing demand for miniaturized laser systems operating with high performance in ambient environments. Here, a compact and robust photonic‐atomic laser comprising a 2.5 centimeter long, 20 000 finesse, monolithic Fabry–Perot cavity integrated with a micromachined rubidium vapor cell is presented. By leveraging the short‐time frequency stability of the cavity and the long‐time frequency stability of atoms, an ultranarrow‐linewidth laser that enables integration for extended measurements is realized. Specifically, the laser supports a fractional‐frequency stability of at an averaging time of 20 millisecond, at 300 second, an integrated linewidth of 25 Hz that results from thermal noise, frequency noise floor as low as 0.06 Hz2 Hz−1, and a passive vibration immunity as low as 10−10 g−1. The present work explores hybrid laser systems with monolithic photonic and atomic packages based on physical design.

DOI
10.1002/lpor.201900293

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Abstract Lasers with high spectral purity can enable a diverse application space, including precision spectroscopy, coherent high‐speed communications, physical sensing, and manipulation of quantum systems. Already, meticulous design and construction of bench Fabry–Perot cavities has made possible dramatic achievements in active laser‐linewidth reduction, predominantly for optical‐atomic clocks. Yet, there is increasing demand for miniaturized laser systems operating with high performance in ambient environments. Here, a compact and robust photonic‐atomic laser comprising a 2.5 centimeter long, 20 000 finesse, monolithic Fabry–Perot cavity integrated with a micromachined rubidium vapor cell is presented. By leveraging the short‐time frequency stability of the cavity and the long‐time frequency stability of atoms, an ultranarrow‐linewidth laser that enables integration for extended measurements is realized. Specifically, the laser supports a fractional‐frequency stability of at an averaging time of 20 millisecond, at 300 second, an integrated linewidth of 25 Hz that results from thermal noise, frequency noise floor as low as 0.06 Hz2 Hz−1, and a passive vibration immunity as low as 10−10 g−1. The present work explores hybrid laser systems with monolithic photonic and atomic packages based on physical design.
Narrow-linewidth lasers with absolute frequency anchoring are essential for precision metrology, coherent sensing, and emerging quantum technologies beyond laboratory environments. Optical cavities and interferometers provide exceptional short-term spectral purity but lack intrinsic absolute frequency references. Atomic transitions, in contrast, provide stable frequency anchors but offer limited discrimination sensitivity. Recent hybrid approaches have demonstrated the combination of compact optical resonators with atomic references, yet achieving the Hz-level regime remains challenging. Here, we present a hybrid architecture that enables simultaneous realization of Hz-level linewidth and atomic-referenced frequency stability. An external-cavity diode laser is first stabilized to a fiber interferometer to achieve Hz-level spectral purity, while the interferometer is subsequently anchored to an 87Rb D2 transition via modulation transfer spectroscopy to suppress long-term drift and define the laser frequency relative to the atomic transition. This dual-stabilization scheme realizes a compact atomic-referenced laser with a 3.4-Hz linewidth (1-rad integrated-phase method), a minimum fractional frequency stability of 3.4x10-14 at 0.56 s, and 9x10-13 at 100 s. This architecture establishes a practical and scalable route toward compact and field-deployable atomic-referenced narrow-linewidth lasers for precision metrology and quantum technologies.
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High-precision, portable, and deployable frequency standards are required for modern navigation and communication technologies. Optical frequency standards are attractive for their improved stability over their microwave counterparts; however, increased complexities have anchored them in the laboratory. Sacrificing the sensitivity of the most stable optical clocks has led to the recent development of deployable and portable optical frequency standards, leveraging hot atomic or molecular vapor. The short-term limit for a majority of previous reports on two-photon rubidium standards is either the shot-noise or intermodulation limit hindering the 1 s fractional frequency stability to around 1 × 10 − 13 . The answer for the shot-noise limit is to increase optical power and collected fluorescence, while the intermodulation limit solution requires improvements in laser linewidth, stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) lasers are known to reduce frequency noise, suppressing noise of the pump laser. We investigate an optical frequency standard based on the two-photon transition in Rb 87 probed with a narrow photonic integrated circuit SBS laser with a quality factor over 130 million and instantaneous linewidth < 10 Hz . The use of a narrow clock laser coupled with operating at higher optical intensities yielded clock instabilities of 2 × 10 − 14 at 1 s, currently the best reported short-term stability for a two-photon rubidium optical frequency standard.
High precision portable and deployable frequency standards are required for modern navigation and communication technologies. Optical frequency standards are attractive for their improved stability over their microwave counterparts; however, increased complexities have anchored them in the laboratory. Sacrificing sensitivity of the most stable optical clocks has led to the recent development of deployable and portable optical frequency standards, leveraging hot atomic or molecular vapor. The short term limit for a majority of previous reports on two-photon rubidium standards is either the shot-noise or intermodulation limit hindering the one second fractional frequency stability to around 1×10−13/τ1\times10^{-13}/\sqrtτ1×10−13/τ​. The answer for the shot-noise limit is to increase optical power and collected fluorescence, while the intermodulation limit solution requires improvements in laser linewidth, stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) lasers are known to reduce frequency noise, suppressing noise of the pump laser at high offset frequencies. We investigate an optical frequency standard based on the two-photon transition in 87^{87}87Rb probed with a narrow linewidth photonic integrated circuit SBS laser with a quality factor over 130 million and instantaneous linewidth <<< 10 Hz. The use of a narrow linewidth clock laser coupled with operating at higher optical intensities yields clock instabilities of 2×10−142\times10^{-14}2×10−14 at one second, currently the best reported short-term stability for a two-photon rubidium optical frequency standard.
We will describe a next-generation active atomic frequency reference based on super-radiant pulses of laser light from the ultra-narrow, 1 mHz linewidth, optical clock transition in an ensemble of cold 87Sr atoms. Light is stimulated from the millihertz linewidth transition by confining an ensemble of laser cooled atoms inside of a high finesse optical cavity. Such a light source has been proposed as a next-generation active atomic frequency reference, with the potential to enable high-precision optical frequency references to be used outside laboratory environments. We achieve a remarkable short term fractional frequency stability, 6.7 × 1016 at 1 s of averaging, absolute accuracy, 2 Hz (4 × 1015 fractional frequency), and high insensitivity to changes in the cavity length that limits the performance of todays more stable lasers. We will also discuss current work on cavity-enhanced dispersive measurements to perform high resolution spectroscopy and atom counting.