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arXiv · 1701.01918

Laser frequency stabilization by combining modulation transfer and frequency modulation spectroscopy

Fei Zi·Xuejian Wu·Weicheng Zhong·Richard H. Parker·Chenghui Yu·Simon Budker·Xuanhui Lu·Holger Mueller
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Abstract

We present a hybrid laser frequency stabilization method combining modulation transfer spectroscopy (MTS) and frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) for the cesium D2 transition. In a typical pump-probe setup, the error signal is a combination of the DC-coupled MTS error signal and the AC-coupled FMS error signal. This combines the long-term stability of the former with the high signal-to-noise ratio of the latter. In addition, we enhance the long-term frequency stability with laser intensity stabilization. By measuring the frequency difference between two independent hybrid spectroscopies, we investigate the short-term and long-term stability. We find a long-term stability of 7.8 kHz characterized by a standard deviation of the beating frequency drift over the course of 10 hours, and a short-term stability of 1.9 kHz characterized by an Allan deviation of that at 2 seconds of integration time.

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Fei Zi, Xuejian Wu, Weicheng Zhong, Richard H. Parker, Chenghui Yu, Simon Budker, Xuanhui Lu, Holger Mueller. 2017-01-08. Laser frequency stabilization by combining modulation transfer and frequency modulation spectroscopy. https://doi.org/10.1364/ao.56.002649

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