Bachelor defense by Christian Ringsing

Analysis of Laser Cooling Light for a Continuous Source of 171-Yb Atoms

In this thesis we construct an Injection Locking Amplifier (ILA) that will be used in a Zeeman slower utilizing the strong ¹S₀ - ¹P₁ cooling transition in 171-Yb. We analyse the lasing beam quality and map out the thermal properties of the laser diode in the ILA to optimize the lasing properties. To further analyse the lasing beam, we have been working on constructing a confocal Fabry-Pérot cavity using off-the-shelf mirrors and components. However, this proves unsuccessful due to scattering and absorption of the mirrors. We then characterize a HeNe laser, at a wavelength of 632.8 nm, with a manufactured confocal Fabry-Pérot cavity, determining the length of the Fabry-Pérot cavity to be 10.17(5) mm. Using a second manufactured confocal Fabry-Pérot cavity we characterize the lasing beam of the laser diode in the constructed ILA. We conclude the laser diode lases at multiple frequencies, and have a linewidth much broader than the natural linewidth of the ¹S₀ - ¹P₁ transition in 171-Yb. This proves injection locking necessary for the ILA to be used in a Zeeman slower.