Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 22, 2026
Characterizing Far-infrared Laser Emissions and the Measurement of Their Frequencies
Published on: December 18, 2015
Optical Frequency Metrology of an Iodine-Stabilized He-Ne Laser Using the Frequency Comb of a
Ryan P Smith1, Peter A Roos1, Jared K Wahlstrand1
1JILA, University of Colorado and National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO 80309-0440.
Abstract:
We perform optical frequency metrology of an iodine-stabilized He-Ne laser using a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser frequency comb that is stabilized using quantum interference of photocurrents in a semiconductor. Using this technique, we demonstrate carrier-envelope offset frequency fluctuations of less than 5 mHz using a 1 s gate time. With the resulting stable frequency comb, we measure the optical frequency of the iodine transition [(127)I2 R(127) 11-5 i component] to be 473 612 214 712.96 ± 0.66 kHz, well within the uncertainty of the CIPM recommended value. The stability of the quantum interference technique is high enough such that it does not limit the measurements.
