Operation of compact laser sources for resonant light absorption include: Laser Cooling, Atomic Clocks, Optical Trapping and Quantum Computing. These applications require high-power, diffraction-limited, single-longitudinal-mode lasers with very narrow line widths, good beam quality and low noise.
Laser Cooling
Narrow-linewidth lasers are essential for creating optical molasses and trapping atomic ensembles in magneto-optical traps (MOTs) in laser cooling. The lasers must closely match the atomic transition frequencies to efficiently manipulate the momentum states of atoms through the Doppler effect and sub-Doppler cooling processes.
Atomic Clocks
Similarly, atomic clocks, which are benchmarks for time and frequency standards, rely on coherent and phase-stable laser light to interrogate ultra-narrow atomic transitions. Transitions in alkali or alkaline earth atoms, such as rubidium or ytterbium, are highly sensitive to the laser’s spectral linewidth and stability, affecting the overall accuracy of the clock.
Optical trapping and quantum computing manipulate small, microscopic particles using a highly focused laser beam that provides attractive or repulsive forces by changing the refractive index mismatch between a dielectric particle and the host medium.
Optical Trapping and Quantum Computing
Optical trapping and quantum computing manipulate small, microscopic particles using a highly focused laser beam that provides attractive or repulsive forces by changing the refractive index mismatch between a dielectric particle and the host medium.
Typical atoms utilized for resonant light absorption applications include:
- Lithium [671 nm]
- Sodium [1178 (581 SHG) nm]
- Potassium [1534 (767 SHG) nm]
- Rubidium [780 and 795 nm]
- Cesium [852 and 895 nm]
- Strontium [922 (461 SHG), 689, 698, 707, 729, and 813 nm]
- Oxygen [761 nm]
- Calcium [657 and 844
(423 SHG) nm] - Ytterbium [399, 1112 (556 SHG), 1157 (578 SHG), 1389, and
759 nm]
- Erbium [976 nm]
- Water [935 nm]
- Helium [1083 nm]
- Potassium (770 and 767 nm)
- Rubidium (780 and 795 nm)
- Cesium (852 and 895 nm)
IPS lasers are ideal for this application due to their compact size, wavelength agility, ultra-narrow linewidth, and high wavelength stability versus time of our hybrid external cavity design. Generally, lasers for this application are free-space or PM fiber coupled. A number of different packaging configuration are available including: TO-can, open beam butterfly, open beam butterfly with optical isolator, and PM fiber coupled with optical isolators.
