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Joint Conference of the IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium and International Symposium on Applications of Ferroelectrics (IFCS-ISAF)

Spectral Hole Burning for Ultra-stable Lasers

Nicolas Galland, Signe Louise Seidelin, Alban Ferrier, Philippe Goldner, Shuo Zhang, Nemanja Lučić, Héctor Álvarez Martínez, Rodolphe Le Targat, Bess Fang, Yann Le Coq

Published Jul 1, 2020• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report on the measurement of uniaxial stress sensitivities of the spectral holes in rare earth doped crystal. This provides the necessary information for ab initio calculation of the acceleration sensitivity for a given crystal geometry, and provides the necessary base for optimizing the mounting of the crystal so as to decrease the vibration induced frequency instability. Furthermore, we report on a novel double heterodyne detection scheme which we have shown can be used to decrease the detection noise when locking a laser to the central frequency of a spectral hole, and thereby allows us to obtain a laser with fractional frequency instability of 1.7×10-15@ 1 s.

DOI
10.1109/ifcs-isaf41089.2020.9234837

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Spectral Hole Burning for Ultra-stable Lasers

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Spectral hole burning in rare earth doped crystal can provide frequency references based on the optical transition of the dopant ions [1] . The narrow spectral patterns can be used to improve laser frequency stabilization [2] , [3] and provide a new generation of ultra-stable lasers with lower thermal noise benefiting from the cryogenic environment and better quality factor of the crystal than the amorphous glass typically used in the Fabry-Perot cavity. We utilize Europium doped yttrium silicon oxide (Eu:YSO) in our experiments, which allow realization of long lived (hours or more depending on temperature) narrow spectral holes ( kHz or less) well suited for high precision experiment applications. We will describe our novel double-heterodyne detection method [4] , used to decrease the detection noise, as well as experiments assessing quantitatively the sensitivity of the spectral pattern to crystal deformation [5] , [6] , application of electric field [7] and temperature fluctuations. We currently demonstrate a state-of-the-art laser frequency stability at 1.7 × 10 − 15 at 1s [4] , limited by the latter effect, for which improvement strategies have been demonstrated elsewhere [2] and which we are currently implementing. The other effects which we have quantitatively studied are compatible with a few 10 − 18 frequency stability at 1s time scale. This work is particularly promising in the context of optical frequency lattice clocks, for which the ultra-stable laser used for probing the clock transition is a strong limiting factor of the frequency stability.

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arXiv:2411.14440•Physical Review A•Jan 23, 2023•5 citations
We report on the measurement of uniaxial stress sensitivities of the spectral holes in rare earth doped crystal. This provides the necessary information for ab initio calculation of the acceleration sensitivity for a given crystal geometry, and provides the necessary base for optimizing the mounting of the crystal so as to decrease the vibration induced frequency instability. Furthermore, we report on a novel double heterodyne detection scheme which we have shown can be used to decrease the detection noise when locking a laser to the central frequency of a spectral hole, and thereby allows us to obtain a laser with fractional frequency instability of 1.7×10-15@ 1 s.
Spectral hole burning in rare earth doped crystal can provide frequency references based on the optical transition of the dopant ions [1] . The narrow spectral patterns can be used to improve laser frequency stabilization [2] , [3] and provide a new generation of ultra-stable lasers with lower thermal noise benefiting from the cryogenic environment and better quality factor of the crystal than the amorphous glass typically used in the Fabry-Perot cavity. We utilize Europium doped yttrium silicon oxide (Eu:YSO) in our experiments, which allow realization of long lived (hours or more depending on temperature) narrow spectral holes ( kHz or less) well suited for high precision experiment applications. We will describe our novel double-heterodyne detection method [4] , used to decrease the detection noise, as well as experiments assessing quantitatively the sensitivity of the spectral pattern to crystal deformation [5] , [6] , application of electric field [7] and temperature fluctuations. We currently demonstrate a state-of-the-art laser frequency stability at 1.7 × 10 − 15 at 1s [4] , limited by the latter effect, for which improvement strategies have been demonstrated elsewhere [2] and which we are currently implementing. The other effects which we have quantitatively studied are compatible with a few 10 − 18 frequency stability at 1s time scale. This work is particularly promising in the context of optical frequency lattice clocks, for which the ultra-stable laser used for probing the clock transition is a strong limiting factor of the frequency stability.
We present an experimental technique for realizing a specific absorption spectral pattern in a rare-earth-doped crystal at cryogenic temperatures. This pattern is subsequently probed on two spectral channels simultaneously, thereby producing an error signal allowing frequency locking of a laser on the said spectral pattern. Appropriate combination of the two channels leads to a substantial reduction in detection noise, paving the way to realizing an ultra-stable laser for which the detection noise can be made arbitrarily low when using multiple channels. We use this technique to realize a laser with a frequency instability of 1.7 × 1 0 − 15 at 1 s, not limited by the detection noise but by environmental perturbation of the crystal. This is comparable with the lowest instability demonstrated at 1 s to date for rare-earth-doped crystal stabilized lasers.
This poster presents the status of the development of an ultra-frequency stable laser via a spectroscopic technique known as Spectral Hole Burning (SHB). In short, we can use a pump laser to imprint, or ’burn’, transmissive spectral lines, or ’spectral holes’, in the otherwise inhomogeneously broadened absorptive spectral sites of a Eu3+ doped Y2SiO5 crystal. We can then lock a probe laser to these narrow spectral features achieving our frequency stabilized laser. Of great concern is the frequency stability of the spectral holes, such as their sensitivity to temperature changes which we characterize here. Additionally, a challenge this experiment faces is the restriction of probe laser power to avoid damaging the spectral features. This sets a relatively high level of shot noise, limiting the detection sensitivity. Here we present our solution to overcome this difficulty by using a multi-spectral- hole probing scheme to average the probing signals of several burned spectral holes.
We demonstrate the optical detection of ultrasound using spectral hole burning in a cryogenic rare earth ion doped crystal. The dispersion due to the hole is used to perform phase to amplitude modulation conversion. This method allows sensitive detection of ultrasonic displacements with the advantage of large étendue. This method is also attractive as it requires only moderate absorption contrast to achieve high sensitivity. We also describe a method for diode laser stabilisation using optical feedback through spectral holes which dramatically reduces the laser phase noise.
The possibility of generating a narrow spectral hole in a rare-earth doped crystal opens the gateway to a variety of applications, one of which is the realization of an ultrastable laser. As this is achieved by locking in a prestabilized laser to the narrow hole, a prerequisite is the elimination of frequency fluctuations of the spectral hole. One potential source of such fluctuations can arise from temperature instabilities. However, when the crystal is surrounded by a buffer gas subject to the same temperature as the crystal, the effect of temperature-induced pressure changes may be used to counterbalance the direct effect of temperature fluctuations. For a particular pressure, it is indeed possible to identify a temperature for which the spectral hole resonant frequency is independent of the first-order thermal fluctuations. Here, we measure frequency shifts as a function of temperature for different values of the pressure of the surrounding buffer gas, and identify the ``magic'' environment within which the spectral hole is largely insensitive to temperature.