Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Applied Physics Letters

A chip scale lin⊥lin quasi-bichromatic laser scheme

Bozhong Tan, Peter Yun, Jing Yang, Yuan Tian, Sihong Gu

Published Apr 22, 2013• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a chip scale lin⊥lin quasi-bichromatic laser beam generator scheme and our experimental study results. Through modulating two vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with the same microwave, both VCSELs output multichromatic lasers and every frequency component in their outputs contributes for the frequency mutual injection locking between VCSELs. The system outputs a lin⊥lin quasi-bichromatic laser beam in which the two wanted frequency components share more than 90% of the total laser power. It is promising to apply the chip device in the chip scale coherent population trapping (CPT) atomic clock and the chip scale CPT magnetometer.

DOI
10.1063/1.4803481

Related papers

Quasi-bichromatic laser for a lin⊥lin coherent population trapping clock produced by vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Peter Yun, Bozhong Tan, Wei Deng +2 more

With two vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers working under the master-slave sideband injection-locking configuration, we have realized a quasi-bichromatic laser beam with residual phase noise Δφ(2) < 0.282 rad(2). The two wanted frequency components share more than 96% power of the beam. With the realized beam, we have carried out coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance experiment with (87)Rb in the lin[perpendicular]lin CPT scheme, and recorded CPT resonance signal with contrast of 60%. Such laser system is promising to realize a lin[perpendicular]lin CPT clock with high performance and low power consumption.

Review of Scientific Instruments•Sep 1, 2012•17 citations

Coherent population trapping resonance characteristics of near pure coherent bichromatic light achieved through injection locking

Suping Qu, Yi Yin

A lin⊥lin quasi-bichromatic light can be employed to realize a double-Λ coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance configuration, thereby enabling a CPT atomic clock with improved performance. A method for generating such light is proposed, in which two lasers with different linewidths are used to achieve a microwave frequency separation of several gigahertz. The effects of the optical injection ratio from the master extended-cavity diode laser into the slave vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser and the microwave power modulating the slave laser on the locking range were systematically investigated. The influence of both the injection ratio and microwave power on the contrast, linewidth, and the ratio of contrast to linewidth of the CPT signal is also studied. To enhance the trapping efficiency, single-pass and multi-pass interactions between the lin⊥lin quasi-bichromatic light and 87Rb atoms are investigated, with near-purely coherent states achieved under multi-pass interactions. Our scheme offers a promising solution for high-performance atomic clock applications.

AIP Advances•Jul 1, 2026•0 citations

Coherent Population Trapped Spectrum Based on Chip-Scale External Cavity Diode Laser

Tian Zhao, Jiqing Lian, S.K. Wu +5 more

This article reports a scheme for obtaining coherent population trapping (CPT) spectrum based on a chip-scale external cavity diode laser (CECDL). The CPT spectrum linewidth is 680Hz. Compared to the scheme using vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), CECDL has a comparable small volume and higher laser power of 14mW and narrower linewidth of 270kHz. This is beneficial for improving the frequency stability performance of CPT chip-scale atomic clocks.

European Frequency and Time Forum•Jun 25, 2024•1 citation

CPT chip-scale atomic clock with direct-modulation chip-external cavity diode laser

Jiqing Lian, Jie Miao, Tian Zhao +7 more

Chip-scale atomic clocks are critical for applications requiring compact, energy-efficient, and highly stable timing, such as GPS receivers and communication systems. Coherent population trapping (CPT)-based atomic clocks, which commonly use vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), have enabled significant miniaturization. However, their precision is limited by the broad linewidth of VCSELs. Alternative laser technologies, such as distributed Bragg reflector lasers, distributed feedback lasers, and external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs), offer potential improvements but face challenges in achieving compact size and adequate modulation bandwidth. This study presents a 795 nm chip-ECDL with a direct modulation bandwidth up to 4 GHz, specifically designed for CPT chip-scale atomic clocks. Based on the chip-ECDL, a CPT atomic clock with a compact volume of 19.4 ml and power consumption of 1.5 W has been developed. Under identical operating conditions, the CPT signal produced by the chip-ECDL exhibits a 34% reduction in linewidth and a 1.14-fold increase in contrast compared to a VCSEL-based clock. Demonstrating short-term stability better than 5×10−11τ−1/2(1 s<τ<2000 s) and reaching a best stability of 6.6×10−13 at 2000 s, this work represents the application of an ECDL in a CPT chip-scale clock, advancing the development of next-generation, high-performance chip-scale atomic clocks.

Applied Physics Letters•Jun 2, 2025•9 citations

External Cavity Laser for Chip-Scale Atomic Clock

Jie Miao, Jiqing Lian, Tianyu Liu +2 more

In this paper we report a new coherent population trapping (CPT) atomic clock based on external cavity laser. Unlike usual CPT atomic clocks, where used the vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), we combine the external cavity laser (ECL) with CPT atomic clock to improve the stability. Compared with VCSEL, the ECL has higher laser power of 10 mW and narrower linewidth of 0.8 MHz, meaning that the signal-to-noise ratio of clock can be further improved.

Joint Conference of the European Frequency and Time Forum and IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (EFTF/IFCS)•May 15, 2023•1 citation

Exploring Ramsey-coherent population trapping atomic clock realized with pulsed microwave modulated laser

Jing Yang, Yuan Tian, Bozhong Tan +2 more

A scheme for a Ramsey-coherent population trapping (CPT) atomic clock that eliminates the acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is proposed and experimentally studied. Driven by a periodically microwave modulated current, the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser emits a continuous beam that switches between monochromatic and multichromatic modes. Ramsey-CPT interference has been studied with this mode-switching beam. In eliminating the AOM, which is used to generate pulsed laser in conventional Ramsey-CPT atomic clock, the physics package of the proposed scheme is virtually the same as that of a conventional compact CPT atomic clock, although the resource budget for the electronics will slightly increase as a microwave switch should be added. By evaluating and comparing experimentally recorded signals from the two Ramsey-CPT schemes, the short-term frequency stability of the proposed scheme was found to be 46% better than the scheme with AOM. The experimental results suggest that the implementation of a compact Ramsey-CPT atomic clock promises better frequency stability.

Journal of Applied Physics•Mar 7, 2014•15 citations
We present a chip scale lin⊥lin quasi-bichromatic laser beam generator scheme and our experimental study results. Through modulating two vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with the same microwave, both VCSELs output multichromatic lasers and every frequency component in their outputs contributes for the frequency mutual injection locking between VCSELs. The system outputs a lin⊥lin quasi-bichromatic laser beam in which the two wanted frequency components share more than 90% of the total laser power. It is promising to apply the chip device in the chip scale coherent population trapping (CPT) atomic clock and the chip scale CPT magnetometer.
With two vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers working under the master-slave sideband injection-locking configuration, we have realized a quasi-bichromatic laser beam with residual phase noise Δφ(2) < 0.282 rad(2). The two wanted frequency components share more than 96% power of the beam. With the realized beam, we have carried out coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance experiment with (87)Rb in the lin[perpendicular]lin CPT scheme, and recorded CPT resonance signal with contrast of 60%. Such laser system is promising to realize a lin[perpendicular]lin CPT clock with high performance and low power consumption.
A lin⊥lin quasi-bichromatic light can be employed to realize a double-Λ coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance configuration, thereby enabling a CPT atomic clock with improved performance. A method for generating such light is proposed, in which two lasers with different linewidths are used to achieve a microwave frequency separation of several gigahertz. The effects of the optical injection ratio from the master extended-cavity diode laser into the slave vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser and the microwave power modulating the slave laser on the locking range were systematically investigated. The influence of both the injection ratio and microwave power on the contrast, linewidth, and the ratio of contrast to linewidth of the CPT signal is also studied. To enhance the trapping efficiency, single-pass and multi-pass interactions between the lin⊥lin quasi-bichromatic light and 87Rb atoms are investigated, with near-purely coherent states achieved under multi-pass interactions. Our scheme offers a promising solution for high-performance atomic clock applications.
Chip-scale atomic clocks are critical for applications requiring compact, energy-efficient, and highly stable timing, such as GPS receivers and communication systems. Coherent population trapping (CPT)-based atomic clocks, which commonly use vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), have enabled significant miniaturization. However, their precision is limited by the broad linewidth of VCSELs. Alternative laser technologies, such as distributed Bragg reflector lasers, distributed feedback lasers, and external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs), offer potential improvements but face challenges in achieving compact size and adequate modulation bandwidth. This study presents a 795 nm chip-ECDL with a direct modulation bandwidth up to 4 GHz, specifically designed for CPT chip-scale atomic clocks. Based on the chip-ECDL, a CPT atomic clock with a compact volume of 19.4 ml and power consumption of 1.5 W has been developed. Under identical operating conditions, the CPT signal produced by the chip-ECDL exhibits a 34% reduction in linewidth and a 1.14-fold increase in contrast compared to a VCSEL-based clock. Demonstrating short-term stability better than 5×10−11τ−1/2(1 s<τ<2000 s) and reaching a best stability of 6.6×10−13 at 2000 s, this work represents the application of an ECDL in a CPT chip-scale clock, advancing the development of next-generation, high-performance chip-scale atomic clocks.
A scheme for a Ramsey-coherent population trapping (CPT) atomic clock that eliminates the acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is proposed and experimentally studied. Driven by a periodically microwave modulated current, the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser emits a continuous beam that switches between monochromatic and multichromatic modes. Ramsey-CPT interference has been studied with this mode-switching beam. In eliminating the AOM, which is used to generate pulsed laser in conventional Ramsey-CPT atomic clock, the physics package of the proposed scheme is virtually the same as that of a conventional compact CPT atomic clock, although the resource budget for the electronics will slightly increase as a microwave switch should be added. By evaluating and comparing experimentally recorded signals from the two Ramsey-CPT schemes, the short-term frequency stability of the proposed scheme was found to be 46% better than the scheme with AOM. The experimental results suggest that the implementation of a compact Ramsey-CPT atomic clock promises better frequency stability.