paper

Laser Phase and Frequency Stabilization Using Atomic Coherence

arXiv:1201.1985 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.86.033805

Abstract

We present a novel and simple method of stabilizing the laser phase and frequency by polarization spectroscopy of an atomic vapor. In analogy to the Pound-Drever-Hall method, which uses a cavity as a memory of the laser phase, this method uses atomic coherence (dipole oscillations) as a phase memory of the transmitting laser field. A preliminary experiment using a distributed feedback laser diode and a rubidium vapor cell demonstrates a shot-noise-limited laser linewidth reduction (from 2 MHz to 20 kHz). This method would improve the performance of gas-cell-based optical atomic clocks and magnetometers and facilitate laser-cooling experiments using narrow transitions.

7 pages, 6 figures, appendix on the derivation of Eq.(3) (transfer function for a polarization-spectroscopy-based frequency discriminator) has been added

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