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American Journal of Physics

Design and construction of cost-effective tapered amplifier systems for laser cooling and trapping experiments

Jayampathi Kangara, Andrew J. Hachtel, Matthew Gillette, J. Barkeloo, Ethan Clements, Samir Bali, Brett Unks, Nicholas Proite, Deniz D. Yavuz, Paul J. Martin, Jeremy J. Thorn, D. Steck

Published Jul 23, 2014• 15 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present plans for the construction and operation of a tapered optical amplifier (TA) system seeded by a single-mode, frequency-tunable, near-IR external-cavity diode laser. Our plans include machine drawings for the parts, electronic circuit diagrams, and information on prices and vendors. Instructions are provided on how to safely couple light into and out of the TA chip. Practical aspects of handling the chip are discussed as well. Because many cold atom experiments require light beams with Gaussian spatial profiles, measurements of the tapered amplifier light output through a single-mode optical fiber are presented as a function of seed intensity, polarization, and driving current.

DOI
10.1119/1.4867376

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We present plans for the construction and operation of a tapered optical amplifier (TA) system seeded by a single-mode, frequency-tunable, near-IR external-cavity diode laser. Our plans include machine drawings for the parts, electronic circuit diagrams, and information on prices and vendors. Instructions are provided on how to safely couple light into and out of the TA chip. Practical aspects of handling the chip are discussed as well. Because many cold atom experiments require light beams with Gaussian spatial profiles, measurements of the tapered amplifier light output through a single-mode optical fiber are presented as a function of seed intensity, polarization, and driving current.
The number density of cold atoms confined in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) is critically dependent on the intensity of the lasers used to cool the sample. To generate large optical powers while retaining the practicality of homemade external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs), a tapered amplifier (TA) system was designed and constructed to amplify the output of an existing 780 nm, continuous-wave ECDL. The amplifier’s performance is discussed in terms of its gain and power output. Under standard operating conditions, optical amplification of 12 dB is achieved, with a maximum power output of 0.75 W. The completed amplifier is installed into an existing MOT at Colby College, and its effect is analyzed in terms of the number density of trapped samples of rubidium-85. MOT measurements are given demonstrating an increase in these number densities by a factor of ten. We conclude with initial results to quantify the amplifier’s effect on the dynamics of ultra-cold plasmas created from the trapped atom samples.
We have developed a semiconductor laser system used in 40K-87Rb trapping and cooling experiment. The laser diode system is composed of three external cavity diode lasers and four injection diode lasers and a tapered amplifier. Four laser beams used for 40K and 87Rb cooling and repump lights are obtained by using acoustic optic modulators to offset the frequencies from the three external cavity diode lasers. Four light beams with different frequencies are injected into four slave lasers for injection locking. Then Rb cooling light, K cooling light and K repump light are injected into a semiconductor tapered amplifier in a master oscillator-power configuration. This configuration is flexible and stable and can simultaneously produce the cooling and repump light for 40K and 87Rb trapping and cooling experiment.
In this paper,we report an optical power amplifier operating at 780 nm.The optical power amplifier is a semiconductor tapered amplifier(Eagleyard,EYP-TPA-0780-01000);the output power from the optical power amplifier is up to about 600 mW when a seeding laser beam with a power of 25 mW is injected into the amplifier.After beam shaping by lens,frequency shifting by an acousto-optical modulator(AOM) and spatial filtering by a single-mode fiber,the output power is up to 110 mW.The presented optical power amplifier may be applied into the MOT for achieving a larger number of trapped atoms.
Simultaneous two-frequency amplification is highly desirable in cold atom experiments. The nonlinear response would appear in the two-frequency amplification with a semiconductor tapered amplifier (TA) and has a direct influence on the experimental result. We investigated in detail the effects of frequency difference, total power, and power ratio of two seeding lasers on the output components based on a simplified theoretical model. The simulation results showed that the multiple sideband generation in the amplifier due to self-phase and amplitude modulation could be suppressed and the TA tended to linearly amplify the power ratio between two-frequency components, when the two seeding lasers had a large frequency difference. This was verified experimentally in the output power ratio measurement via a calibrated Fabry–Perot interferometer method with a good linearity and an uncertainty of 1%. We also discussed the consequences of power ratio responses in the amplification in light of cold atom experiments, especially in the ac Stark shift related phase error of Raman-type atom interferometers (AIs). It was shown that the fluctuation of intensity ratio of Raman beams may induce significant systematic errors for an AI gyroscope.
Laser cooling of atoms usually necessitates several laser frequencies. Alkaline atoms, for example, are cooled by two lasers with a frequency difference in the gigahertz range. This gap cannot be closed with simple shifting techniques. Here, we present a method of generating sidebands at 6.6 GHz by modulating the current of a tapered amplifier, which is seeded by an unmodulated master laser. The sidebands enable trapping of 1.1 × 10(9) (87)Rb atoms in a chip-based magneto-optical trap. Compared to the direct modulation of the master laser, this method allows for an easy implementation, a fast adjustment over a wide frequency range, and the simultaneous extraction of unmodulated light for manipulation and detection. The low power consumption, small size, and applicability for multiple frequencies benefit a wide range of applications reaching from atom-based mobile sensors to the laser cooling of molecules.
We present a laser configuration capable of fast frequency changes with a high power output and a large tuning range. The system integrates frequency tuning with an acousto-optic modulator with a double pass tapered amplifier. A compensation circuit keeps the seed power constant and prevents damage to the amplifier. A single mode fiber decouples the modulation and amplification sections and keeps the alignment fixed. The small power required to saturate the amplifier makes the system very reliable. We use the system to obtain a dipole trap that we image using a beam derived from the same configuration.