Long Term Ultrastable Laser System at 780 nm for Atomic Clocks

Gener8 and AOSense team together to propose a novel new architecture for a low-phase noise, single-frequency electronically tunable laser at 780 nm. This laser concept has a demonstrated electronic tuning coefficient 2.37 GHz/Volt and will meet all the demanding requirements for atomic clock applications. The compact laser technology is based on previously developed hybrid integration technology that enables the direct optical coupling of active and passive waveguide chips. The integrated design proposed reduces system complexity, lowers cost and lends itself readily to array scaling. A rugged packaging solution is proposed to package the laser head in a volume of 3.0 cubic cm.

The proposed laser system is the key enabling component for all applications that require the optical excitation of atomic systems. The availability of this laser system will significantly reduce the development time for these new applications. The laser system developed by the end of Phase II design will take advantage of the hybrid integration technology to minimize the foot print, to increase the ruggedness and to reduce the power consumption and weight. This laser will also be of general benefit to the scientific and R&D community since the availability of the tunable laser will allow new concepts that require the optical excitation of Rb and Cs atoms to be prototyped quickly.

The single-frequency tunable laser developed in this project will be of great benefit to the scientific and R&D community. The availability of the tunable laser will allow new optical sensors and instrumentation to be quickly prototyped. These lasers can also be used for coherent optical communications. Since the technology is inherently array scalable, there would be a significant reduction in per-port cost for a 4 or 8 port tunable single-frequency laser module.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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