IMPROVED SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF DIODE-LASERS

We report on several complementary methods for improving the stability of a free running diode laser. We were primarily concerned with: (a) the construction of a stable power supply to reduce the main frequency and rf noise, and (b) long term drift of the laser frequency, for whi ch we have developed a lock-in amplifier to be combined with a simple proportional-integrating circuit. While we have kept everything simple and inexpensive to construct, the stability is comparable with that o f far more expensive, commercially available systems. Development and testing of our stabilization scheme was done on the distributed Bragg reflector diode lasers for use in a range of atomic collision and atom optics experiments, but it is applicable to all diode lasers, and can be used in a large range of atomic physics experiments. (C) 1997 Amer ican Institute of Physics.