The short- and long-term frequency stabilization of an injection-locked Nd: YAG laser in reference to a Fabry-Perot cavity and an iodine saturated absorption line

We have developed a wideband frequency-stabilized injection-locked Nd:YAG l aser as a light source for the laser interferometric gravitational wave det ector, in which short-term frequency stability of the laser improves the se nsitivity of the interferometer and the long-term frequency stability aims for the stable long-time operation of the interferometer. The frequency of a 2-W injection-locked laser is locked to both a rigid Fabry-Perot cavity w ith ULE spacer and saturated I-127(2) simultaneously with two nested servo loops, and the long-term as well as short-term frequency absorption line of stability are obtained. The drift of the resonant frequency of the rigid F abry-Perot cavity is measured and the stability of the Fabry-Perot cavity i s estimated to be 20 X f(-1) [Hz/root Hz]. The predicted frequency stabilit ies of the present dual-reference-locked laser are numerically simulated. O ur wideband frequency-stabilized laser is also available for the high-resol ution spectroscopy. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.