Low-drift-rate external cavity diode laser

Eddie H Chang; Jared Rivera; Brian Bostwick; Christian Schneider; Peter Yu; Eric R Hudson; HUNTER Collaboration

doi:10.1063/5.0079210

Low-drift-rate external cavity diode laser

Rev Sci Instrum. 2023 Apr 1;94(4):043001. doi: 10.1063/5.0079210.

Authors

Eddie H Chang¹, Jared Rivera¹, Brian Bostwick¹, Christian Schneider¹, Peter Yu¹, Eric R Hudson^{1

2

3}; HUNTER Collaboration

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
² Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.
³ Challenge Institute for Quantum Computation, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.

PMID: 38081246
DOI: 10.1063/5.0079210

Abstract

We present the design, construction, and simulation of a simple, low-cost external cavity diode laser with a measured free-running frequency drift rate of 1.4(1) MHz/h at 852 nm. This performance is achieved in a compact aluminum structure held inside an airtight, temperature-controlled enclosure. The high thermal conductivity of the laser cavity and the stable temperature environment inside the enclosure minimize the time-varying, spatial temperature gradients across the laser cavity. We present thermal finite element method simulations, which quantify the effects of temperature gradients, and suggest that the drift rate is likely limited by the laser-diode and piezo-aging.