Modeling and analysis of an ultra-stable subluminal laser

OPTICS COMMUNICATIONS

卷:358

Article

Zhou, Zifan¹  Yablon, Joshua¹  Zhou, Minchuan²  Wang, Ye¹  Heifetz, Alexander³  Shahriar, M. S.^1,2 

[1] Northwestern Univ, Dept Elect Engn & Comp Sci, Evanston, IL 60201 USA

[2] Northwestern Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, Evanston, IL USA

[3] Argonne Natl Lab, Nucl Engn Div, Argonne, IL 60439 USA

关键词: Optics;    Photonics;    Laser;    Slow light;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.optcom.2015.09.007

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

We describe a subluminal laser which is extremely stable against perturbations. It makes use of a composite gain spectrum consisting of a broad background along with a narrow peak. The stability of the laser, defined as the change in frequency as a function of a change in the cavity length, is enhanced by a factor given by the group index, which can be as high as 105 for experimentally realizable parameters. We also show that the fundamental linewidth of such a laser is expected to be smaller by the same factor. We first present an analysis where the gain profile is modeled as a superposition of two Lorentzian functions. We then present a numerical study based on a physical scheme for realizing the composite gain profile. In this scheme, the broad gain is produced by a high pressure buffer gas loaded cell of rubidium vapor. The narrow gain is produced by using a Raman pump in a second rubidium vapor cell, where optical pumping is used to produce a Raman population inversion. We show close agreement between the idealized model and the explicit model. A subluminal laser of this type may prove to be useful for many applications. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

【 授权许可】

Free