| US 7,460,573 B2 | ||
| Optical frequency stabilizer and method for stabilizing optical frequency | ||
| Shigeru Ooshima, Yokohama (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo (Japan) | ||
| Filed on Mar. 25, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/88,764. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 2004-107903 (JP), filed on Mar. 31, 2004; and application No. 2005-018500 (JP), filed on Jan. 26, 2005. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2005/0220155 A1, Oct. 06, 2005 | ||
| Int. Cl. H01S 3/13 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 372—32 | 3 Claims |

| 1. An optical frequency stabilizer to stabilize an optical frequency of a laser beam emitted from a laser diode comprising:
an etalon formed by bonding a quartz crystal bulk having a pair of Z-cut surfaces and a LiCAF bulk having a pair of Z-cut
surfaces with one of the Z-cut surfaces of the quartz crystal bulk facing one of the Z-cut surfaces of the LiCAF, reflection
films being formed on the other of the Z-cut surfaces of the quartz crystal bulk and the other of the Z-cut surfaces of the
LiCAF, respectively, and a ratio of an optical length of the quartz crystal bulk to that of the LiCAF bulk being set between
2:3 and 1:7, wherein the etalon functions as a Fabry-Perot resonator;
a photo-detector to receive the laser beam transmitted through the etalon and convert the laser beam into an electrical signal;
an error signal generator to generate an error signal from the electrical signal output from the photo-detector, the error
signal used for controlling the optical frequency of the laser diode;
an oscillator to generate a dither signal;
the quartz crystal bulk including electrodes formed on a pair of X-cut surfaces, respectively, and supplied with the dither
signal there between;
the error signal generator including a synchronous detector to detect synchronously the electrical signal output from the
photo-detector, based on the dither signal to obtain the error signal, and the error signal used for controlling the optical
frequency of the laser diode to stabilize the optical frequency to an extreme value of an optical transmittance of the etalon;
and
a base comprising
a pair of shafts having first ends respectively attached to central parts of surfaces of electrodes formed on the pair of
X-cut surfaces of the Quartz crystal bulk, and
a holding device configured to hold second ends of the pair of shafts, separate a bottom part of the etalon from the base
and transmit the laser beam near by a central part of the etalon,
wherein the LiCAF bulk is lower in height than the quartz crystal bulk.
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