Towards narrow-linewidth, superradiant lasing from a hot atomic beam in ⁴⁰Ca

Frequency-stabilized lasers serve as the cornerstone of many atomic physics experiments. Stabilization is commonly achieved by electronically locking the laser frequency to a reference cavity. Cavity length fluctuations, resulting from thermal and mechanical noise, limit the laser linewidth, requiring complex cavity-stabilization systems to reach <1 Hz linewidths. Recent proposals have theorized narrow-linewidth lasers operating in the superradiant (‘bad-cavity’) regime based on a simple, thermal atomic beam in which the detrimental effects of cavity length fluctuations are highly suppressed [1]. In this poster, we present the required cooling schemes, atomic beam oven, and cavity needed to achieve narrow-linewidth, superradiant lasing in ⁴⁰Ca. In addition, we discuss the stability of our in-house laser system that notably features a wavemeter as the main frequency reference and includes the cooling lasers needed to support the superradiant laser and our other, trapped Ca⁺ ion experiments.

[1]  H. Liu et al. PRL 125, 253602 (2020)