COALESCe - COmpAct Light Engines for Strontium Clocks

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A large number of applications, including those in research, defence, and finance require compact optical clocks that retaintheir accuracy and reliability for lower costs and footprints than existing systems. Optical clocks are capable of betterstability and lower uncertainty than the current standard of time; however, each clock requires a range of lasers withdemanding requirements specific to the atomic species at the heart of the clock. Neutral strontium is one of the mostwidely used atoms. It has a key transition that must be addressed using a laser source with emission wavelength at 461nm,power >1W and linewidth (spectral purity) <32MHz. Currently researchers must use expensive or inadequate lasersources to meet these requirements. In this project we will meet all the above requirements of neutral strontium in a lowcost, compact system based on semiconductor disk laser (SDL) technology. The advantageous properties of SDLs fortunable, narrow linewidth operation have previously been demonstrated in the laboratory; however, their potential toaddress wavelengths of interest for optical clocks, and moreover to achieve this in a compact commercial format, have yetto be realised. We will engineer a stabilised, narrow linewidth 922nm SDL with frequency doubling to 461nm within thecost and volume parameters required for strontium optical clock-based systems to emerge from the research laboratoryand address applications in the field.