2×10-13 Fractional Laser-Frequency Stability with a 7-cm Unequal-Arm Mach-Zehnder Interferometer

verfasst von

Victor Huarcaya, Miguel Dovale Álvarez, Daniel Penkert, Stefano Gozzo, Pablo Martínez Cano, Kohei Yamamoto, Juan José Esteban Delgado, Moritz Mehmet, Karsten Danzmann, Gerhard Heinzel

Abstract

To achieve subpicometer sensitivities in the millihertz band, laser interferometric inertial sensors rely on some form of reduction of the laser-frequency noise, typically by locking the laser to a stable frequency reference, such as the narrow-line-width resonance of an ultrastable optical cavity or an atomic or molecular transition. In this paper, we report on a compact laser-frequency stabilization technique based on an unequal-arm Mach-Zehnder interferometer that is subnanometer stable at 10μHz, subpicometer at 0.5 mHz, and reaches a noise floor of 7fm/Hz at 1 Hz. The interferometer is used in conjunction with a dc servo to stabilize the frequency of a laser down to a fractional instability below 4×10-13 at averaging times from 0.1 to 100 s. The technique offers a wide operating range, does not rely on complex lock-acquisition procedures, and can be readily integrated as part of the optical bench in future gravity missions.

Organisationseinheit(en)

QuantumFrontiers
QUEST Leibniz Forschungsschule
SFB 1464: Relativistische und quanten-basierte Geodäsie (TerraQ)
PhoenixD: Simulation, Fabrikation und Anwendung optischer Systeme
Institut für Gravitationsphysik

Externe Organisation(en)

Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut)

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Physical review applied

Band

20

ISSN

2331-7019

Publikationsdatum

08.2023

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Physik und Astronomie (insg.)

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.20.024078 (Zugang: Offen)