A scalable laser system at 461 nm for laser cooling and trapping of Sr atoms
Year: 2022
Authors: Verma G.; Wang E.; Assendelft J.; Poli N.; Rosi G.; Tino G.M.; Salvi L.
Autors Affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia and LENS-Universita di Firenze, INFN-Sezione di Firenze, Via Sansone 1, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019, Italy; Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica “Ulisse Dini”, Universita di Firenze, Firenze, Italy; CNR-INO, Firenze, CNR-INO, Firenze, Italy
Abstract: The realization of compact high-power narrow-linewidth laser sources in the visible range has been a long-standing interest for the atomic physics community, especially in the field of laser cooling and trapping of alkaline-earth and alkaline-earth-like atoms. We report a simple master-slave injection-locked laser system capable of generating 500 mW at 460.86 nm with a linewidth of 1.6 MHz to realize magneto-optical trapping of strontium atoms on the 5s(2) S-1(0) – 5s5p P-1(1) transition. The master laser used is an external cavity diode laser built with an anti-reflection coated laser diode in a Littrow configuration and the slave laser is built with a recently launched single mode high power GaN laser diode. We characterized the frequency noise, injection stability, spectral purity and relative intensity noise of the laser system. The reported laser system is used routinely to produce 10(7) strontium atoms at a temperature of 10 mK in a magneto-optical trap. The laser system offers a prominent alternative to the existing frequency-doubled laser systems in terms of cost, design flexibility, electrical power consumption, ease of scaling, intensity stability, and frequency tunability. The proposed system is also an effective solution for space-based experiments where a laser system?s size, weight, and electrical power consumption are crucial design parameters.
Journal/Review: APPLIED PHYSICS B-LASERS AND OPTICS
Volume: 128 (6) Pages from: 100-1 to: 100-13
More Information: We acknowledge financial support from INFN under the project OLAGS. GV, EW, and GR acknowledge support from MIUR (Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research) under the FARE-TENMA project. GV acknowledges support from the project QuEGI-Quantum Enhanced Gravity Interferometry of Universita di Firenze. JA acknowledges support from ESA under contract number 4000129848/20/NL/MH/ac. LS and NP acknowledges support from the European Research Council, Grant No. 772126 (TICTOCGRAV). NP acknowledges financial support from European Unions Horizon 2020 Programme, under the project TAIOL of QuantERA ERA-NET Cofund in Quantum Technologies (Grant Agreement No. 731473).KeyWords: injection locking; diode; wave; spectroscopy; strontiumDOI: 10.1007/s00340-022-07815-w