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arXiv · 1007.0679

A portable laser system for high precision atom interferometry experiments

Malte Schmidt·Marco Prevedelli·Antonio Giorgini·Guglielmo M. Tino·Achim Peters
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Abstract

We present a modular rack-mounted laser system for the cooling and manipulation of neutral rubidium atoms which has been developed for a portable gravimeter based on atom interferometry that will be capable of performing high precision gravity measurements directly at sites of geophysical interest. This laser system is constructed in a compact and mobile design so that it can be transported to different locations, yet it still offers improvements over many conventional laboratory-based laser systems. Our system is contained in a standard 19" rack and emits light at five different frequencies simultaneously on up to 12 fibre ports at a total output power of 800 mW. These frequencies can be changed and switched between ports in less than a microsecond. The setup includes two phase-locked diode lasers with a phase noise spectral density of less than 1 μrad/sqrt(Hz) in the frequency range in which our gravimeter is most sensitive to noise. We characterize this laser system and evaluate the performance limits it imposes on an interferometer.

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Malte Schmidt, Marco Prevedelli, Antonio Giorgini, Guglielmo M. Tino, Achim Peters. 2010-09-27. A portable laser system for high precision atom interferometry experiments. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-010-4263-8

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