Published in:
Review of Scientific Instruments, 76 (2005) 7
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1063/1.1979493
ISSN:
0034-6748;
1089-7623
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
We present a compact and frequency-stabilized laser head based on an extended-cavity diode laser. The laser head occupies a volume of 200cm3 and includes frequency stabilization to Doppler-free saturated absorption resonances on the hyperfine components of the Rb87D2 lines at 780 nm, obtained from a simple and compact spectroscopic setup using a 2cm3 vapor cell. The measured frequency stability is ⩽2×10−12 over integration times from 1 s to 1 day and shows the potential to reach 2×10−13 over 102−105 s. Compact laser sources with these performances are of great interest for applications in gas-cell atomic frequency standards, atomic magnetometers, interferometers and other instruments requiring stable and narrow-band optical sources.