ELECTRONICS FOR HE-NE-I-2 STABILIZED LASER WITH DIGITAL-CONTROL

The construction of He-Ne-I-2 stabilized laser electronics with digita l control by a PC computer is presented in this contribution. This sys tem has been developed to work with a compact laser head as a waveleng th standard for metrology of lengths. Due to its compact construction and portability it can be used in calibrations of laser interferometer s in mechanical engineering and microelectronics. A novel approach to the design of a control is presented. Sensitive analog circuits are op to-coupled to a digital control communicating with a PC. All functions are accessible from keyboard, iodine spectrum and system diagnostic d ata are currently displayed. User friendly graphic interface allows ea sy hyperfine Line selection and locking. The system was compared to th e BIPM laser and showed a very good reproducibility. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.