Berlin 2014 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 16: Poster: Quantum information, micromechanical oscillators, matter wave optics, precision measurements and metrology
Q 16.75: Poster
Monday, March 17, 2014, 16:30–18:30, Spree-Palais
Compact mode-locked diode laser system for highly accurate frequency comparisons in microgravity — •Heike Christopher1,2, Evgeny Kovalchuk1,2, Andreas Wicht1,2, Götz Erbert2, Günther Tränkle2, Achim Peters1,2, and The LASUS Team1,2,3,4 — 1Institut für Physik, HU Berlin — 2Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik Berlin — 3Institut für Quantenoptik, LU Hannover — 4Institut für Laserphysik, Universität Hamburg
We have developed a compact mode-locked diode laser system to generate an optical frequency comb spanning the wavelength range from 767 nm to 780 nm. Hence it will allow highly accurate frequency comparisons in microgravity experiments testing the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) for potassium and rubidium quantum gases.
The extended-cavity passively mode-locked diode laser contains an external dielectric mirror for high flexibility in optimizing performance parameters to match the required specifications. The ridge-waveguide (RW) laser diode consists of a short saturable absorber and a long gain section. Selecting the appropriate group velocity dispersion (GVD) of the external mirror provides optimal pulse performance at a repetition rate of about 4 GHz. Thus a free running timing jitter of less than 2 ps (bandwidth 20 kHz to 80 MHz) was achieved. We present the current status of our work and discuss options for further improvements.
This project is supported by the German Space Agency DLR with funds provided by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) under grant numbers 50WM1237-1240.