A compact iodine-laser operating at 531 nm with stability at the 10$^{-12}$ level and using a coin-sized laser module

TL;DR

This paper presents a highly stable, compact iodine-stabilized laser at 531 nm, achieved with a coin-sized module, suitable for precision measurements and interferometry.

Contribution

The authors developed a miniaturized iodine-stabilized laser operating at 531 nm with stability at the 10$^{-12}$ level, using a small diode laser and frequency doubling.

Findings

Achieved frequency stability at the 10$^{-12}$ level.

Determined the absolute frequency with a relative uncertainty of 1.4×10$^{-11}$.

Demonstrated suitability for interferometric applications.

Abstract

We demonstrate a compact iodine-stabilized laser operating at 531 nm using a coin-sized light source consisting of a 1062-nm distributed-feedback diode laser and a frequency-doubling element. A hyperfine transition of molecular iodine is observed using the light source with saturated absorption spectroscopy. The light source is frequency stabilized to the observed iodine transition and achieves frequency stability at the 10$^{-12}$ level. The absolute frequency of the compact laser stabilized to the $a_{1}$ hyperfine component of the $R(36)32-0$ transition is determined as $564\,074\,632\,419(8)$ kHz with a relative uncertainty of $1.4\times10^{-11}$. The iodine-stabilized laser can be used for various applications including interferometric measurements.