Frequency-stabilized laser-diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser

We describe a frequency-stabilized diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser that is actively frequency stabilized relative to a reference Fabry-Perot cavity using the Pound-Drever technique. We describe the servo loop and the measurement of its noise and gain performance and demonstrate its ability to reduce the laser frequency noise close to the shotnoise limit of 12.5 mHz/ radicalHz. This corresponds to a linewidth of approximately 1 mHz, well below the Schawlow-Townes limit of 0.13 Hz that applies for a free-running laser.