Extended-cavity, fiber-amplified diode lasers at 1083 nm have been frequenc
y stabilized by locking of their frequency-doubled radiation onto hyperfine
components of I-2 at 541 nm by the frequency-modulation technique. The mea
sured stability of 1.9 x 10(-12) at 1 s, improving to 4.1 x 10(-13) at 300
s, represents what are to the authors' knowledge the best results achieved
for diode lasers at 1.08 mum. Experimental comparison with the previously u
sed frequency reference for precise spectroscopy of He demonstrates a stabi
lity improvement of similar to2 orders of magnitude. Preliminary results in
He spectroscopy show significant reduction of frequency drifts and better
precision as compared with previous measurements on He. (C) 2001 Optical So
ciety of America.