Intracavity Phase Spectroscopy, Application to a Multiple beat atomic clock, wavelength standard and motion sensor

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The PI proposes a program to develop a wavelength-time standard based on differences in mode frequencies for two co-existing pulse trains in a stabilized mode-locked laser cavity. Specifically, the approach will use a passively mode-locked Ti-sapphire ring laser that is made to oscillate bi-directionally. The output in one direction is locked to a passive cavity, by the use of Pound-Drever-Hall technique. The pulse train in the opposite direction is then locked to a Doppler-free two-photon resonance of the rubidium. The combination of the PDH cavity lock and atomic lock provides the Ti-sapphire laser with both short and long term stability. The beat note between oppositely traveling modes is itself locked to an hyperfine splitting of the same transition. The particular optical transition is proposed as a wavelength standard while the hyperfine splitting of the ground state can be linked to the time standard. Potential applications of this system include magnetometer or gyroscope and measurement of the index of refraction in thin films.