Optical Flywheel for Yb+ Ion Clock

OEwaves Inc. offers to develop and demonstrate an extended cavity ultra-stable 436 nm diode laser system that features the properties required for long duration space applications. The system will be based on a semiconductor laser locked to a monolithic microcavity using self injection locking technique. This technique results in a complete suppression of mode hops in the laser during its operational lifetime. The microcavity will not only stabilize the frequency of the laser, but will also be used to measure and stabilize the power of the laser. Furthermore, the microcavity provides a modulatable laser that features exceptionally low residual amplitude modulation, allowing a robust lock to the clock transition of interest. The laser is intended as an optical local oscillator (LO) suitable for Yb+ ion clock. The LO will include a semiconductor diode laser stabilized to a millimeter scale monolithic reference resonator. The reference resonator is a high quality factor (Q) and narrow-linewidth dielectric whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator that is thermally compensated to produce a vanishingly small temperature coefficient. The LO will deliver the same performance as the best existing high-end laboratory Fabry-Perot resonator-based LOs--which are large, expensive, and fragile table-mounted instruments--but in a robust, 100 cc volume module that is inexpensive and consumes small power.

The laser has commercial value as a part of optical Yb+ clock system. Timekeeping in commercial GPS satellites, national time references, and national power grids may benefit significantly from the clocks created using the laser. In addition, critical enhancements for advanced synchronous wireline and wireless communication smart networks from the core to the edges may be realized. Among others are academic research, test and measurement, and metrology applications. For example, high performance atomic frequency standards and clocks have been always an integral part of the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN), responsible for communication, navigation, tracking, as well as related sciences. The performance attributes of atomic frequency references and clocks are stability and accuracy. For most applications, particularly in a two-way link architecture, only stability is required. For greater autonomy and strict one-way navigation system, an accurate clock (i.e. one with a precisely known rate) will be beneficial, as it does not need calibration. Aside from DSN applications, precision frequency standards are used for a wide spectrum of NASA space-based science experiments in astrophysics, planetary physics, space science, Earth science, and tests of fundamental physics.

The laser source will be the best product available for applications requiring tunable ultra-high spectral purity in the C- and L-band ranges and beyond. The laser source's combination of high agility, small size, robust packaging, superior spectral noise characteristics, and lower cost of production will beat the foreseeable competition across all performance specifications. Potential customers include not only the oil and gas giants (Exxon/Mobile, Chevron, Halliburton, Anadarko, British Petroleum, Schlumberger, Royal Dutch Shell, etc.) and fiber optic sensor system integrators and emerging adopters (Sensa, Atlas, Ocean Optics, Honeywell, Xarion, Weatherford, Google, etc.), but also the equivalent of fiber optic communication system corporations (Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Ciena, etc.), LIDAR developers (LGS Innovations, Raytheon, Zephir, Bridger Photonics, etc.), and possibly medical laser system players (Syneron-Candela, Novadaq Technologies Inc., AngioDynamics Inc., PhotMedex Inc., Lumenis Ltd., BIOLASE Inc., etc.)

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — 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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