Tapered-amplified AR-coated laser diodes for Potassium and Rubidium atomic-physics experiments

TL;DR

This paper introduces a room-temperature, extended-cavity diode laser system with tapered amplifiers, providing high-power, tunable light suitable for atomic physics experiments involving potassium and rubidium.

Contribution

The development of a tunable, high-power laser system with AR-coated diodes and tapered amplifiers for atomic physics applications is novel.

Findings

Achieved over 400mW output power.

Extended tuning range towards the blue (760-790nm).

Suitable for potassium and rubidium atomic experiments.

Abstract

We present a system of room-temperature extended-cavity grating-diode lasers (ECDL) for production of light in the range 760-790nm. The extension of the tuning range towards the blue is permitted by the weak feedback in the cavity: the diodes are anti-reflection coated, and the grating has just 10% reflectance. The light is then amplified using semiconductor tapered amplifiers to give more than 400mW of power. The outputs are shown to be suitable for atomic physics experiments with potassium (767nm), rubidium (780nm) or both, of particular relevance to doubly-degenerate boson-fermion mixtures.