Development of a Superradiant Collective Optical Laser
Abstract
We explored the potential of direct spectroscopy of ultra-narrow optical transitions of atoms localized in an optical cavity. In contrast to stabilization against a reference cavity which is the approach currently used for the most highly stabilized lasers, stabilization against an atomic transition does not suffer from the thermal noise problem. Spectroscopy of ultra-narrow optical transitions in a cavity operates in a very highly saturated regime in which non-linear effects such as bistability play an important role. We determined the fundamental limits for laser stabilization using direct spectroscopy of ultra-narrow atomic lines. We found that with current experimental technology laser linewidths of about 1 millihertz can be achieved whereas linewidths below 1 microhertz are possible in principle.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA580990
Entities
People
- Murray Holland
Organizations
- University of Colorado Boulder