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Optica, Optics Express, 17(28), p. 24708, 2020

DOI: 10.1364/oe.396296

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Miniaturized optical frequency standard for next-generation portable optical clocks

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Optical frequency standards, or lasers stabilized to atomic or molecular transitions, are widely used in length metrology and laser ranging, provide a backbone for optical communications and lie at the heart of next-generation optical atomic clocks. Here we demonstrate a compact, low-power optical frequency reference based on the Doppler-free, two-photon transition in rubidium-87 at 778 nm implemented on a micro-optics breadboard. Our optical reference achieves a fractional frequency instability of 2.9×10−12/ τ for averaging times τ less than 103 s, has a volume of ≈35 cm3 and operates on ≈450 mW of electrical power. The advanced optical integration presented here demonstrates a key step towards the development of compact optical clocks and the broad dissemination of SI-traceable wavelength references.