Extreme nonlinear response of ultranarrow optical transitions in cavity QED for laser stabilization
- JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440 (United States)
- Niels Bohr Institute, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen (Denmark)
We explore the potential of direct spectroscopy of ultranarrow optical transitions of atoms localized in an optical cavity. In contrast to stabilization against a reference cavity, which is the approach currently used for the most highly stabilized lasers, stabilization against an atomic transition does not suffer from Brownian thermal noise. Spectroscopy of ultranarrow optical transitions in a cavity operates in a very highly saturated regime in which nonlinear effects such as bistability play an important role. From the universal behavior of the Jaynes-Cummings model with dissipation, we derive the fundamental limits for laser stabilization using direct spectroscopy of ultranarrow atomic lines. We find that, with current lattice clock experiments, laser linewidths of about 1 mHz can be achieved in principle, and the ultimate limitations of this technique are at the 1 {mu}Hz level.
- OSTI ID:
- 22095703
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 84, Issue 6; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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