Microcontroller-based locking in optics experiments
- Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, Collège de France, 4 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris (France)
Optics experiments critically require the stable and accurate locking of relative phases between light beams or the stabilization of Fabry-Perot cavity lengths. Here, we present a simple and inexpensive technique based on a stand-alone microcontroller unit to perform such tasks. Easily programmed in C language, this reconfigurable digital locking system also enables automatic relocking and sequential functioning. Different algorithms are detailed and applied to fringe locking and to low- and high-finesse optical cavity stabilization, without the need of external modulations or error signals. This technique can readily replace a number of analog locking systems advantageously in a variety of optical experiments.
- OSTI ID:
- 22392264
- Journal Information:
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 85, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Laser stabilization at the millihertz level
Lasers for an optical frequency standard using trapped Hg{sup +} ions