Active Stabilization of a Diode Laser Injection Lock

TL;DR

This paper introduces an electronic stabilization device for diode laser injection locks that maintains optimal locking conditions using feedback from a Fabry-Perot cavity, improving robustness and recovery.

Contribution

A novel feedback-based stabilization method for diode laser injection locks using transmission peak height as a discriminator, enhancing stability and ease of use.

Findings

Successfully stabilized a 399 nm diode laser for Yb atom cooling.

Improved robustness against thermal drifts and sudden failures.

Facilitated multiple laser lock applications.

Abstract

We report on a device to electronically stabilize the optical injection lock of a semiconductor diode laser. Our technique uses as discriminator the peak height of the laser's transmission signal on a scanning Fabry-Perot cavity and feeds back to the diode current, thereby maintaining maximum optical power in the injected mode. A two-component feedback algorithm provides constant optimization of the injection lock, keeping it robust to slow thermal drifts and allowing fast recovery from sudden failures such as temporary occlusion of the injection beam. We demonstrate the successful performance of our stabilization method in a diode laser setup at 399 nm used for laser cooling of Yb atoms. The device eases the requirements on passive stabilization and can benefit any diode laser injection lock application, particularly those where several such locks are employed.