Researchers at NIST have developed a compact, high-performance laser stabilization system using a novel photonic resonator technology. The key innovations include:
1. Miniaturized photonic resonators with ultrahigh finesse (>100,000) fabricated using a fabless manufacturing process, eliminating the need for vacuum systems.
2. Vibration-immune cavity design achieving a net vibration sensitivity of ≈ 10−10g−1, enabling stable operation in ambient environments.
3. Integration of photonic resonators with micromachined rubidium vapor cells to create compact, robust atomic lasers with fractional-frequency stability of 1 × 10−13 at 20 ms averaging time.
4. Cryogenic operation of photonic resonators at 9.5 K, achieving a long-term fractional frequency drift rate of 10-17/s, comparable to or better than conventional technologies.
The technology has potential applications in precision spectroscopy, coherent high-speed communications, physical sensing, and manipulation of quantum systems. NIST’s photonic resonator platform enables optimization of device properties through design of materials and geometry, offering a promising path for scalable, high-performance laser systems.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/chip-scale-ultraprecise-laser-technologies
Keywords: Laser, photonic resonator, Fabry-Perer cavity, rubidium vapor cell, Pound-Drever-Hall technique, frequency stability, linewidth, thermodynamic fluctuations, temperature sensitivity, index of refraction, mechanical properties, cryogenic operation
