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

Laser frequency stabilization for trapped Yb+ experiments

Janse van Rensburg, Deon Anton

Published Dec 1, 2020• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

This project sets out to frequency stabilize external cavity diode lasers of wavelengths λ = 935 nm and 739 nm, with an eye to Ytterbium-171 ion trapping.The desired laser linewidths were below 1 MHz at 1 second observation time and the desired long term frequency drifts were below a megahertz over the course of a few hours.To stabilize the lasers, two Pound-Drever-Hall laser frequency stabilisation systems were designed, constructed and characterized.The optical frequency references used were sub-megahertz linewidth optical cavities with Invar spacers.These cavities were designed and constructed inhouse.The achieved long term stability of the stabilized lasers was 1 MHz/h over a 5 hour measurement period.The laser frequency long term stabilities are limited by the thermal stabilities of the cavity spacers.The post stabilisation laser frequency noise was lowered when compared to the free running lasers.This was observed by determining the laser frequency noise power spectral densities.From the frequency noise power spectral densities lower bounds on the locked laser linewidths were established.This lower bound is 11.92 kHz for the 739 nm wavelength laser at 1 second observation time and 5.4 kHz for the 935 nm wavelength laser.An additional system was designed and constructed ii

Related papers

Frequency stabilization of a 369 nm diode laser by nonlinear spectroscopy of Ytterbium ions in a discharge

Michael W. Lee, Marie Claire Jarratt, Christian D. Marciniak +1 more

We demonstrate stabilization of an ultraviolet diode laser via Doppler-free spectroscopy of Ytterbium ions in a discharge. Our technique employs polarization spectroscopy, which produces a natural dispersive lineshape whose zero-crossing is largely immune to environmental drifts, making this signal an ideal absolute frequency reference for Yb+ ion trapping experiments. We stabilize an external-cavity diode laser near 369 nm for cooling Yb+ ions, using amplitude modulated polarization spectroscopy and a commercial PID feedback system. We achieve stable, low-drift locking with a standard deviation of measured laser frequency ∼ 400 kHz over 10 minutes, limited by the instantaneous linewidth of the diode laser. These results and the simplicity of our optical setup makes our approach attractive for stabilization of laser sources in atomic physics applications.

arXiv:1402.1248•Optics Express•Mar 19, 2014•18 citations

A low phase noise cavity transmission self-injection locked laser system for atomic physics experiments

Ludwig Krinner, Kai Dietze, Lennart Pelzer +2 more

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 $^{40}$Ca$^{+}$-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.

arXiv:2311.03461•Nov 6, 2023•2 citations

High-performance frequency stabilization of ultraviolet diode lasers by using dichroic atomic vapor spectroscopy and transfer cavity*

Danna Shen, Liangyu Ding, Qiuxin Zhang +4 more

We develop a high-performance ultraviolet (UV) frequency stabilization technique implemented directly on UV diode lasers by combining the dichroic atomic vapor laser lock and the resonant transfer cavity lock. As an example, we demonstrate a stable locking with measured frequency standard deviations of approximately 200 kHz and 300 kHz for 399 nm and 370 nm diode lasers in 20 min. We achieve a long-term frequency drift of no more than 1 MHz for the target 370 nm laser within an hour, which is further verified with fluorescence count rates of a single trapped 171Yb+ ion. We also find strong linear correlations between lock points and environmental factors such as temperature and atmospheric pressure. Our approach provides a simple and stable solution at a relatively low cost, and features flexible control, high feedback bandwidth and minimal power consumption of the target UV laser.

arXiv:2004.03897•Chinese Physics B•Apr 23, 2020•6 citations

Frequency doubling and stabilization of a Tm,Ho:YLF laser at 2051 nm to a high finesse optical cavity

Adam Kleczewski, Matthew Hoffman, Eric Magnuson +2 more

Light from a Tm,Ho:YLF laser operating at 2051 nm is frequency doubled then coupled into a high Fabry-Perot cavity with manufacturer quoted finesse in excess of 300,000. The frequency of the laser is stabilized using the Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) method. A two channel feedback circuit allows for laser frequency stabilization with a bandwidth of 2 MHz. This laser system has been used to drive the 6S1/2 to 5D3/2 transition in 138Ba+, where a 2 ms laser-ion coherence times has been observed, demonstrating a linewidth of less than 500 Hz. The intensity noise of this system is analyzed and found to be acceptable for several proposed experiments on a single trapped barium ion.

arXiv:1105.4400•May 23, 2011•1 citation

Compact Yb+optical atomic clock project: design principle and current status

Clément Lacroûte, Maël Souidi, Pierre-Yves Bourgeois +6 more

We present the design of a compact optical clock based on the 2 S 1/2 → 2 D 3/2 435.5 nm transition in 171 Yb + . The ion trap will be based on a micro-fabricated circuit, with surface electrodes generating a trapping potential to localize a single Yb ion a few hundred μ m from the electrodes. We present our trap design as well as simulations of the resulting trapping pseudo-potential. We also present a compact, multi-channel wavelength meter that will permit the frequency stabilization of the cooling, repumping and clear-out lasers at 369.5 nm, 935.2 nm and 638.6 nm needed to cool the ion. We use this wavelength meter to characterize and stabilize the frequency of extended cavity diode lasers at 369.5 nm and 638.6 nm.

arXiv:1603.05816•Journal of Physics Conference Series•Jun 1, 2016•20 citations

Injection-locked diode laser current modulation for Pound-Drever-Hall frequency stabilization using transfer cavities

Chelsea E. Liekhus-Schmaltz, R. Mantifel, Mozhgan Torabifard +2 more

A phase-modulated RF current source is applied to an injection-locked diode laser operating at 780 nm. This produces tunable phase-modulated sidebands of the laser suitable for stabilizing the length of an optical transfer cavity using the Pound-Drever-Hall technique. The Pound-Drever-Hall signal is antisymmetric about the lock point, despite the presence of significant diode laser amplitude modulation. The stabilized optical transfer cavity is used to frequency stabilize a 776 nm external cavity diode laser. The stability and tunability of this transfer cavity locked laser is established by observation of the hyperfine components of the Rb875P3/2−5D5/2 transition in a vapor cell.

arXiv:1109.0338•Journal of the Optical Society of America B•May 22, 2012•13 citations
This project sets out to frequency stabilize external cavity diode lasers of wavelengths λ = 935 nm and 739 nm, with an eye to Ytterbium-171 ion trapping.The desired laser linewidths were below 1 MHz at 1 second observation time and the desired long term frequency drifts were below a megahertz over the course of a few hours.To stabilize the lasers, two Pound-Drever-Hall laser frequency stabilisation systems were designed, constructed and characterized.The optical frequency references used were sub-megahertz linewidth optical cavities with Invar spacers.These cavities were designed and constructed inhouse.The achieved long term stability of the stabilized lasers was 1 MHz/h over a 5 hour measurement period.The laser frequency long term stabilities are limited by the thermal stabilities of the cavity spacers.The post stabilisation laser frequency noise was lowered when compared to the free running lasers.This was observed by determining the laser frequency noise power spectral densities.From the frequency noise power spectral densities lower bounds on the locked laser linewidths were established.This lower bound is 11.92 kHz for the 739 nm wavelength laser at 1 second observation time and 5.4 kHz for the 935 nm wavelength laser.An additional system was designed and constructed ii
We demonstrate stabilization of an ultraviolet diode laser via Doppler-free spectroscopy of Ytterbium ions in a discharge. Our technique employs polarization spectroscopy, which produces a natural dispersive lineshape whose zero-crossing is largely immune to environmental drifts, making this signal an ideal absolute frequency reference for Yb+ ion trapping experiments. We stabilize an external-cavity diode laser near 369 nm for cooling Yb+ ions, using amplitude modulated polarization spectroscopy and a commercial PID feedback system. We achieve stable, low-drift locking with a standard deviation of measured laser frequency ∼ 400 kHz over 10 minutes, limited by the instantaneous linewidth of the diode laser. These results and the simplicity of our optical setup makes our approach attractive for stabilization of laser sources in atomic physics applications.
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.
We develop a high-performance ultraviolet (UV) frequency stabilization technique implemented directly on UV diode lasers by combining the dichroic atomic vapor laser lock and the resonant transfer cavity lock. As an example, we demonstrate a stable locking with measured frequency standard deviations of approximately 200 kHz and 300 kHz for 399 nm and 370 nm diode lasers in 20 min. We achieve a long-term frequency drift of no more than 1 MHz for the target 370 nm laser within an hour, which is further verified with fluorescence count rates of a single trapped 171Yb+ ion. We also find strong linear correlations between lock points and environmental factors such as temperature and atmospheric pressure. Our approach provides a simple and stable solution at a relatively low cost, and features flexible control, high feedback bandwidth and minimal power consumption of the target UV laser.
Light from a Tm,Ho:YLF laser operating at 2051 nm is frequency doubled then coupled into a high Fabry-Perot cavity with manufacturer quoted finesse in excess of 300,000. The frequency of the laser is stabilized using the Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) method. A two channel feedback circuit allows for laser frequency stabilization with a bandwidth of 2 MHz. This laser system has been used to drive the 6S1/2 to 5D3/2 transition in 138Ba+, where a 2 ms laser-ion coherence times has been observed, demonstrating a linewidth of less than 500 Hz. The intensity noise of this system is analyzed and found to be acceptable for several proposed experiments on a single trapped barium ion.
We present the design of a compact optical clock based on the 2 S 1/2 → 2 D 3/2 435.5 nm transition in 171 Yb + . The ion trap will be based on a micro-fabricated circuit, with surface electrodes generating a trapping potential to localize a single Yb ion a few hundred μ m from the electrodes. We present our trap design as well as simulations of the resulting trapping pseudo-potential. We also present a compact, multi-channel wavelength meter that will permit the frequency stabilization of the cooling, repumping and clear-out lasers at 369.5 nm, 935.2 nm and 638.6 nm needed to cool the ion. We use this wavelength meter to characterize and stabilize the frequency of extended cavity diode lasers at 369.5 nm and 638.6 nm.
A phase-modulated RF current source is applied to an injection-locked diode laser operating at 780 nm. This produces tunable phase-modulated sidebands of the laser suitable for stabilizing the length of an optical transfer cavity using the Pound-Drever-Hall technique. The Pound-Drever-Hall signal is antisymmetric about the lock point, despite the presence of significant diode laser amplitude modulation. The stabilized optical transfer cavity is used to frequency stabilize a 776 nm external cavity diode laser. The stability and tunability of this transfer cavity locked laser is established by observation of the hyperfine components of the Rb875P3/2−5D5/2 transition in a vapor cell.