COMPACT AND ROBUST SINGLE-FREQUENCY DIODE-PUMPED VECSEL AT THE CESIUM D2 LINE FOR ATOMIC CLOCKS

Benjamin Cocquelin (1) , Gaëlle Lucas-Leclin (1) , David Holleville (2) , Noël Dimarcq (2) , Isabelle Sagnes (3) , Mikhaël Myara (4, 5) , Arnaud Garnache (4, 5) , Patrick Georges (1)

1 Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique / Elsa
2 SYRTE - Systèmes de Référence Temps Espace
3 LPN - Laboratoire de photonique et de nanostructures
4 IES - Institut d’Electronique et des Systèmes
5 TéHO - Térahertz, hyperfréquence et optique

This work reports on an optically-pumped vertical external-cavity surface­emitting laser emitting around 852 nm dedicated to atomic physics experiments with cold Cs atoms. The design of the semiconductor active structure has been optimized to provide a low threshold. A low-power diode-pumped compact prototype has been developed with improved stability. With this setup, we obtained a 17-mW single frequency emission exhibiting large tunability around the Cesium D2 line. The laser linewidth has been measured to less than 500 kHz on a 10 ms time.

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]; Optics / Photonic

Benjamin Cocquelin, Gaëlle Lucas-Leclin, David Holleville, Noël Dimarcq, Isabelle Sagnes, et al.. COMPACT AND ROBUST SINGLE-FREQUENCY DIODE-PUMPED VECSEL AT THE CESIUM D2 LINE FOR ATOMIC CLOCKS. International Conference on Space Optics, Oct 2008, Toulouse, France. ⟨hal-00534717⟩