A Vehicle-portable Ultra-stable Laser for Operating on Highways

TL;DR

This paper introduces a vehicle-portable ultra-stable laser operating on highways, demonstrating high stability and robustness suitable for real-time mobile applications like laser communication and time-frequency comparison.

Contribution

The study presents the first portable ultra-stable laser capable of continuous real-time operation on highways with environmental mitigation measures.

Findings

Frequency stability of ~10-12/(0.01s-100s) during transport

Stability of ~5E-14/s while stationary with engine running

Stability of ~3E-15/s with engine off

Abstract

Portable ultra-stable lasers are essential for high-precision measurements. This study presents a 1550 nm vehicle-portable ultra-stable laser designed for continuous real-time operation on highways. We implement several measures to mitigate environmental impacts, including active temperature control with a standard deviation of mK/day to reduce frequency drift of the optical reference cavity, all-polarization-maintaining fiber devices to enhance the robustness of the optical path, and highly integrated electronic units to diminish thermal effects. The performance of the ultra-stable laser is evaluated through real-time beat frequency measurements with another similar ultra-stable laser over a transport distance of approximately 100 km, encompassing rural roads, national roads, urban roads, and expressways. The results indicate frequency stability of approximately 10-12/(0.01s-100 s) during transport, about 5E-14/s while the vehicle is stationary with the engine running, and around 3E-15/s with the engine off, all without active vibration isolation. This work marks the first recorded instance of a portable ultra-stable laser achieving continuous real-time operation on highways and lays a crucial foundation for non-laboratory applications, such as mobile laser communication and dynamic free-space time-frequency comparison.