Low Cost Fast Frequency Switching Driver for Acousto-Optic Modulators Used in Laser Cooling

Abstract

In many laser atom cooling experiments, Acousto-Optic Modulators (AOM) are used to modulate a laser beam frequency close to an electronic resonance of the atoms. Commercially available RF drivers for the AOMs tend to be expensive ($2k and above) and can also require supplementary equipment such as power supplies and amplifiers. This article presents a low cost, compact, re-configurable, and portable modulator driver system. This system can switch between two frequencies within a period of few hundreds of ns, while giving the user complete control over the frequency range and output power up to about 2 W. This fast switching allows to toggle a laser beam between two optical fibers which could be used for cooling, imaging, or optical pumping of the laser-cooled atoms.

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Second Department

Physics

Research Center/Lab(s)

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Laboratory

Comments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. 1554776 and by the University of Missouri Research Board.

Keywords and Phrases

Acousto-Optic Modulator (AOM) Driver system; Doppler cooling; RF modulation system

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2468-0672

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Apr 2019

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