Amplitude and frequency stabilized solid-state lasers in the near infrared

In this article we present a comprehensive review of the work done by our g roup on the amplitude and frequency stabilization of diode-pumped near-infr ared solid-state lasers. In particular, we describe experiments based on si ngle-mode Nd:YAG (1064 mu), Er-Yb:glass (1530-1560 mn), and Tm-Ho:YAG (2097 nm) lasers, end-pumped by semiconductor laser diodes. Amplitude stabilizat ion is achieved by means of optoelectronic control loops sensing the laser intensity fluctuations and feeding back the error signal to the current of the pump diodes. Frequency stabilization is pursued using rovibrational mol ecular lines as absolute frequency references by means of various frequency locking techniques. The most interesting stability results are described i n some detail whereas the wide literature cited through the paper provides for a useful reference list of related topics and experiments.