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/Hz1/2 in the frequency range in which our gravimeter is most sensitive to noise. We characterise this laser system and evaluate the performance limits it imposes on an interferometer
A portable laser system for high-precision atom interferometry experiments
PREVEDELLI, MARCO;
2011
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/Hz1/2 in the frequency range in which our gravimeter is most sensitive to noise. We characterise this laser system and evaluate the performance limits it imposes on an interferometerI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
