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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

A multi-channel tunable source for atomic sensors

Matthew S. Bigelow, Tony Roberts, Shirley McNeil, Todd Hawthorne, Philip R. Battle

Published Sep 1, 2015• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

We have designed and completed initial testing on a laser source suitable for atomic interferometry from compact, robust, integrated components. Our design is enabled by capitalizing on robust, well-commercialized, low-noise telecom components with high reliability and declining costs which will help to drive the widespread deployment of this system. The key innovation is the combination of current telecom-based fiber laser and modulator technology with periodicallypoled waveguide technology to produce tunable laser light at rubidium D1 and D2 wavelengths (and expandable to other alkalis) using second harmonic generation (SHG). Unlike direct-diode sources, this source is immune to feedback at the Rb line eliminating the need for bulky high-power isolators in the system. In addition, the source has GHz-level frequency agility and in our experiments was found to only be limited by the agility of our RF generator. As a proof-of principle, the source was scanned through the Doppler-broadened Rb D2 absorption line. With this technology, multiple channels can be independently tuned to produce the fields needed for addressing atomic states in atom interferometers and clocks. Thus, this technology could be useful in the development cold-atom inertial sensors and gyroscopes.

DOI
10.1117/12.2187148

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We have designed and completed initial testing on a laser source suitable for atomic interferometry from compact, robust, integrated components. Our design is enabled by capitalizing on robust, well-commercialized, low-noise telecom components with high reliability and declining costs which will help to drive the widespread deployment of this system. The key innovation is the combination of current telecom-based fiber laser and modulator technology with periodicallypoled waveguide technology to produce tunable laser light at rubidium D1 and D2 wavelengths (and expandable to other alkalis) using second harmonic generation (SHG). Unlike direct-diode sources, this source is immune to feedback at the Rb line eliminating the need for bulky high-power isolators in the system. In addition, the source has GHz-level frequency agility and in our experiments was found to only be limited by the agility of our RF generator. As a proof-of principle, the source was scanned through the Doppler-broadened Rb D2 absorption line. With this technology, multiple channels can be independently tuned to produce the fields needed for addressing atomic states in atom interferometers and clocks. Thus, this technology could be useful in the development cold-atom inertial sensors and gyroscopes.
We present a compact and stable dual-wavelength laser source for onboard atom interferometry with two different atomic species. It is based on frequency-doubled telecom lasers locked on a femtosecond optical frequency comb. We take advantage of the maturity of fiber telecom technology to reduce the number of free-space optical components, which are intrinsically less stable, and to make the setup immune to vibrations and thermal fluctuations. The source provides the frequency agility and phase stability required for atom interferometry and can easily be adapted to other cold atom experiments. We have shown its robustness by achieving the first dual-species K-Rb magneto-optical trap in microgravity during parabolic flights.
Inertial sensors based on cold atom interferometry exhibit many interesting features for applications related to inertial navigation, particularly in terms of sensitivity and long-term stability. However, at present the typical atom interferometer is still very much an experiment—consisting of a bulky, static apparatus with a limited dynamic range and high sensitivity to environmental effects. To be compliant with mobile applications further development is needed. In this work, we present a compact and mobile experiment, which we recently used to achieve the first inertial measurements with an atomic accelerometer onboard an aircraft. By integrating classical inertial sensors into our apparatus, we are able to operate the atomic sensor well beyond its standard operating range, corresponding to half of an interference fringe. We report atom-based acceleration measurements along both the horizontal and vertical axes of the aircraft with one-shot sensitivities of 2.3 × 10−4 g over a range of ∼ 0.1 g. The same technology can be used to develop cold-atom gyroscopes, which could surpass the best optical gyroscopes in terms of long-term sensitivity. Our apparatus was also designed to study multi-axis atom interferometry with the goal of realizing a full inertial measurement unit comprised of the three axes of acceleration and rotation. Finally, we present a compact and tunable laser system, which constitutes an essential part of any cold-atom-based sensor. The architecture of the laser is based on phase modulating a single fiber-optic laser diode, and can be tuned over a range of 1 GHz in less than 200 μs.
In conclusion, we have developed a new laser system to laser cool rubidium atoms based on frequency doubling of a 1560 nm fiber bench. The use of telecom components gives us a reliable and compact system robust compare to environmental perturbations. Our laser system should find applications for onboard cold atoms experiments like inertial captors or atomic clocks. For example, our laser could be used in matter wave interferometers in space like the project ICE supported by CNES. We should also point out that our laser system can also address potassium atoms which have a laser cooling wavelength of 767 nm.
Abstract Programmability and precise control of laser frequency are essential for quantum experiments and applications such as atomic clocks, quantum computers, and cold-atom sensors. Current systems use bulky, power-hungry modulators and frequency shifters which are difficult to integrate and limit portability and scalability. We report an electrically controllable, agile optical frequency source based on a semiconductor laser stabilized to a photonic integrated resonator cavity with a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) actuator. We demonstrate this approach with precision programmable frequency control of a 780-nm laser that can periodically reference to rubidium-87 ( 87 Rb) spectroscopy followed by fast, programmable, arbitrary frequency tuning sequences for quantum control. We use this approach to demonstrate sub-Doppler cooling of 87 Rb without any external modulators, achieving atom-cloud temperatures as low as 16 μ K. The device achieves a tuning strength up to 1 GHz/V with 11 MHz modulation bandwidth while consuming only 10 nW of electrical power. This work establishes a route toward compact, low-power, and chip-scale laser systems for next-generation quantum and atomic sensing technologies.
Accurate and stable frequency sources can be realized by locking lasers to well-known transitions between energy levels in isolated quantum systems such as alkali atoms. Unfortunately, current implementations of such frequency standards typically involve bulky optical setups and discrete optical components. Furthermore, the common transitions of alkali atoms are in the near-infrared, hindering their use as frequency references in the telecom regime. Our current work is focused on mitigating these deficiencies. In particular, we demonstrate the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of an on-chip telecom frequency reference that is based on a ladder transition of rubidium atoms integrated with nanoscale optical waveguides. These atomic cladded waveguides are implemented in a serpentine geometry in order to optimize the chip area and maximize the interaction of light with the alkali atoms. Following its fabrication, the device is used to stabilize a telecom laser around a 1.5 μm wavelength to a precision better than 200 kHz at ∼250 s. Moreover, in spite of the fact that the natural lifetime of the excited state of the atom corresponding to only a few megahertz line widths, the nanoscale confinement of the optical mode dictates ultrashort interaction times and extreme photonic energy densities allowing us to demonstrate low power and faster (∼200 MHz) all-optical modulation of a near-infrared light with a telecom light. The results presented in this paper push forward the efforts toward fully integrated chip-scale stabilization system and provide an extremely efficient link between atomic based devices and silicon photonics platform in the telecom.
Programmability and precise control of laser frequency are essential for quantum experiments and applications such as atomic clocks, quantum computers, and cold-atom sensors. Current systems use bulky, power-hungry modulators and frequency shifters which are difficult to integrate and limit portability and scalability. We report an electrically controllable, agile optical frequency source based on a semiconductor laser stabilized to a photonic-integrated, lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-actuated resonator cavity. We demonstrate this approach with precision programmable frequency control of a 780-nm laser that can periodically reference to rubidium spectroscopy followed by fast, programmable, arbitrary frequency tuning sequences for quantum control. We use this approach to demonstrate sub-Doppler cooling of rubidium-87 without any external modulators, achieving atom-cloud temperatures as low as 16 μμμK. The device achieves a tuning strength up to 1 GHz/V with 11 MHz modulation bandwidth while consuming only 10 nW of electrical power. This work establishes a route toward compact, low-power, and chip-scale laser systems for next-generation quantum and atomic sensing technologies.