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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Low-frequency-noise diode laser for atom interferometry

Tatiana Nazarova, Christian Lisdat, F. Riehle, Uwe Sterr

Published Sep 12, 2008• 37 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate the influence of fast frequency fluctuations of an interrogation laser on the obtainable signal-to-noise ratio in Ramsey-Bordé atom interferometers. It is shown that the excessive high-frequency noise of diode lasers can degrade the signal-to-noise ratio significantly in an atom interferometer. To overcome these limitations, we have devised a low-noise light source by frequency filtering a diode laser in a high-finesse cavity and further amplifying the transmitted power by injection locking a solitary laser diode. When this laser source was used for atom interferometry with laser-cooled calcium atoms, the signal-to-noise ratio could be improved further by a factor of 3.5 compared with the use of the unfiltered 1 Hz linewidth laser source.

DOI
10.1364/josab.25.001632

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We investigate the influence of fast frequency fluctuations of an interrogation laser on the obtainable signal-to-noise ratio in Ramsey-Bordé atom interferometers. It is shown that the excessive high-frequency noise of diode lasers can degrade the signal-to-noise ratio significantly in an atom interferometer. To overcome these limitations, we have devised a low-noise light source by frequency filtering a diode laser in a high-finesse cavity and further amplifying the transmitted power by injection locking a solitary laser diode. When this laser source was used for atom interferometry with laser-cooled calcium atoms, the signal-to-noise ratio could be improved further by a factor of 3.5 compared with the use of the unfiltered 1 Hz linewidth laser source.
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.
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.
A new robust laser system for mobile atom interferometers is reported. Phase modulation of a single diode laser provide two phase-coherent frequencies necessary for the Raman transition in light-pulse atom interferometers. Additional laser frequencies generated by the phase modulation, which would disturb the phase of atom interferometers, is filtered by a Fabry-Perot cavity. The two sidebands of the phase-modulated light is tuned to the adjacent resonances of the cavity and the carrier mode and even-order higher sidebands are filtered. The laser beam is then fed to a single tapered amplifier, and the two sidebands are both amplified without mode competition. The phase noise is lower than that of a state-of-the-art optically phase-locked external-cavity diode laser (-135 dBrad2/Hz at 10 kHz). This technique can be used in all-fiber-based laser systems for future mobile atom interferometers. The laser system has advantage of low phase noise, high mechanical stability, low power consumption and compactness.
A symmetrical atom interferometer with a thermal calcium atom beam has been developed using a narrow linewidth diode laser stabilized to the resonance of a high-finesse cavity. The linewidth of the diode laser was estimated to be less than 1 Hz relative to the cavity resonance in noise measurement over the range of 100 Hz to 1 MHz, and the phase instability of the interference fringes obtained from the Allan deviation was improved to 2 mrad at an integration time of 300 s. Using this atom interferometer, the ac Stark phase shift between the 1{}^{1}1S0{S}_{0}S0​ and 3{}^{3}3P1{P}_{1}P1​ states of a Ca atom was measured as a function of a laser power near the resonance of the ${}^{1}{S}_{0}{\ensuremath{-}}^{1}\phantom{\rule{-0.16em}{0ex}}{P}_{1}$ transition at a wavelength of 423 nm. The decay rate of the 1{}^{1}1P1{P}_{1}P1​ state was determined to be $\ensuremath{\gamma}=1.91(33)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{8}$ s${}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$.
A compact and robust laser system is essential for mobile atom interferometers. Phase modulation can provide the two necessary phase-coherent frequencies without sophisticated phase-locking between two different lasers. However, the additional laser frequencies generated can perturb the atom interferometer. In this article, we report on a novel method to produce a single high-power laser beam composed of two phase-coherent sidebands without the perturbing carrier mode. Light from a diode laser is phase-modulated by using a fiber-coupled electro-optic modulator driven at 3.4 GHz and passes through a Fabry-Perot cavity with a 6.8 GHz free spectral range. The cavity filters the carrier mode to leave the two first-order sidebands for the two-photon Raman transition between the two hyperfine ground states of 87 Rb. The laser beam is then fed to a single tapered amplifier, and the two sidebands are both amplified without mode competition. The phase noise is lower than that of a state-of-the-art optically phase-locked external-cavity diode laser (−135 dBrad 2 /Hz at 10 kHz) at frequencies above 10 Hz. This technique can be used in all-fiber-based laser systems for future mobile atom interferometers.