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

Miniature, compact laser system for ultracold atom sensors

J. M. Pino, Ben Luey, Sarah Bickman, Michael H. Anderson

Published May 31, 2013• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

As ultracold atom sensors begin to see their way to the field, there is a growing need for small, accurate, and robust laser systems to cool and manipulate atoms for sensing applications such as magnetometers, gravimeters, atomic clocks and inertial sensing. In this paper we present a frequency-agile, butterfly packaged laser source, absolutely referenced to an atomic transition. We also present the entire laser system, including a fiber-coupled optical amplifier and liquid crystal shutters, replacing a laboratory table’s worth of optics with a system the size of a paperback novel.

DOI
10.1117/12.2015159

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As ultracold atom sensors begin to see their way to the field, there is a growing need for small, accurate, and robust laser systems to cool and manipulate atoms for sensing applications such as magnetometers, gravimeters, atomic clocks and inertial sensing. In this paper we present a frequency-agile, butterfly packaged laser source, absolutely referenced to an atomic transition. We also present the entire laser system, including a fiber-coupled optical amplifier and liquid crystal shutters, replacing a laboratory table’s worth of optics with a system the size of a paperback novel.
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Nowadays, atom-based quantum sensors are leaving the laboratory towards field applications requiring compact and robust laser systems. Here we describe the realization of a compact laser system for atomic gravimetry. Starting with a single diode laser operating at 780 nm and adding only one fiber electro-optical modulator, one acousto-optical modulator and one laser amplifier we produce laser beams at all the frequencies required for a Rb-87 atomic gravimeter. Furthermore, we demonstrate that an atomic fountain configuration can also be implemented with our laser system. The modulated system reported here represents a substantial advance in the simplification of the laser source for transportable atom-based quantum sensors that can be adapted to other sensors such as atomic clocks, accelerometers, gyroscopes or magnetometers with minor modifications.
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