Compact Laser System for Cold Rubidium Atoms

We will build a versatile, compact, rugged and low-power laser system for use in rubidium Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) experimentation and sensors. Existing commercial laser systems available for driving 780 nm rubidium transitions have very limited numbers of optical frequency outputs. Consequently, typical laser-cooled rubidium systems require the combination of multiple commercial laser systems and/or significant external optical hardware. AOSense previously has designed and fabricated atom-optic sensor laser systems and control electronics for a variety of terrestrial moving-platform applications. In Phase II we propose to build a compact laser system with all the functionality needed for laser-cooling applications. The proposed rubidium laser system will provide a total optical power of ~0.5 W from 11 fiber-coupled optical outputs, each with independent frequency and power controls. Innovations in this work include: (1) internal frequency agility to launch atoms with all common launch geometries, (2) internal power modulation with extinction suitable for BEC applications, (3) laser sources at 780 nm rubidium transitions instead of 852 nm cesium transitions and (4) mechanical and thermal designs directed toward eventual space applications.