Apparatus and method of laser power and frequency stabilization of radio frequency excited laser using optogalvanic effect

摘要

An apparatus for and a method of stabilizing the laser power and frequency of a radio frequency excited laser, which are adapted to lock the laser power and frequency of the laser at the vertex of a laser gain curve using an optogalvanic effect generated from the laser itself, thereby stabilizing the laser power and frequency without requiring any specific unit to be arranged inside or outside a cavity of the laser. A capacitor is coupled to a radio frequency inlet of the radio frequency discharge tube. The capacitor serves to induce a part of radio frequency energy, introduced into the radio frequency discharge tube, toward a detector, so that the optogalvanic signal is measured, based on the induced signal, after removing radio frequency components from the induced signal by the detector, thereby enabling a measurement of a variation in input radio frequency energy caused by the optogalvanic effect. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a stable, simple and compact laser exhibiting an improved laser efficiency.