•  
  •  
 

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

femtosecond frequency comb lock, laser, cold atom

College

Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Department

Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

Laser frequency control is imperative for cold atom experimentation. In our lab we use finely tuned lasers to optically cool and trap calcium atoms. Our ability to successfully trap atoms is highly dependent on the stability of the lasers we use to cool them. After trapping the atoms we use more finely tuned lasers to reveal how cold the atoms are and how quickly they leave our trap. Previous to this work our lasers were limited to 20 MHz precision. By installing a femtosecond laser as a standard by which to stabilize the other lasers in our experiment we successfully demonstrated 500 kHz precision (a factor of 100 improvement). In the sections that follow I will discuss how we implemented this system and the new physics we demonstrated as a result of our increased laser precision.

Download

Share

COinS