Development and Characterization of Auto-Locked Laser Systems and Applications to Photon Echo Lifetime Measurements

We have developed and characterized a new class of vacuum-sealed, auto-locking diode laser systems with an auto-locking controller that allows these instruments to be operated with greater ease and control at desired wavelengths in the visible and near-infrared spectral range. These laser systems can be tuned and frequency stabilized with respect to atomic, molecular, and solid-state resonances without human intervention using a variety of control algorithms programmed into the same controller. We show that these lasers have exceptional long-term stability, with an Allan deviation (ADEV) floor of 210^{-12}, and a short-term linewidth of 200 kHz. These performance characteristics are related to reducing current noise and ensuring vacuum sealing. We demonstrate accurate measurements of gravitational acceleration at the level of a few parts-per-billion by incorporating the laser into an industrial gravimeter. We also realize the basis of a LIDAR transmitter that can potentially operate in a spectral range in which frequency references are not readily available. We have also developed a technique for precise measurements of atomic lifetimes using optical photon echoes. We report a measurement of 26.10(3) ns for the 5^2P_{3/2} excited-state in ^{85}Rb vapour that has a statistical uncertainty of 0.11% in 4 hours of data acquisition. We show that the best statistical uncertainty that can be obtained with the current configuration is 0.013%, which has been exceeded by only one other lifetime measurement. An analysis of the technical limitations based on a simple model shows that these limitations can be overcome using a feedback loop with a reference interferometer. Our studies indicate that it should be possible to investigate systematic effects at the level of 0.03% in 10 minutes of data acquisition. Such an outcome could potentially result in the most accurate measurement of any atomic lifetime.