Frequency Stabilized Laser for use in Microwave Generation

We construct a frequency stabilized laser which will generate 10 GHz microwaves with Phase noise -100 dBC/Hz at 1 Hz, or equivalently, an optical frequency with an Allan Deviation of 8e-16 and a drift rate of<1 Hz/s. This is achieved with a silicon reference cavity (for short-term stability) which is disciplined at long times with a lock to a saturated absorption feature in an acetylene line. The molecular reference will discipline the drift of the locked laser to give the required phase noise at 1 Hz in a wide range of environments.