A simplified cryogenic optical resonator apparatus providing ultra-low frequency drift

Ultra-stable cryogenic sapphire cavity laser with an instability reaching 2 × 10-16 based on a low vibration level cryostat

Cryogenic ultra-stable lasers have extremely low thermal noise limits and frequency drifts, but they are more seriously affected by vibration noise from cryostats. Main material candidates for cryogenic ultra-stable cavities include silicon and sapphire. Although sapphire has many excellent properties at low temperature, the development of sapphire-based cavities is less advanced than that of silicon-based. Using a homemade cryogenic sapphire cavity, we develop an ultra-stable laser source with a frequency instability of 2(1) × 10^-16. This is the best frequency instability level among similar systems using cryogenic sapphire cavities reported so far. Low vibration performance of the cryostat is demonstrated with a two-stage vibration isolation, and the vibration suppression is optimized by tuning the mixing ratio of the gas-liquid-helium. With this technique, the linear power spectral densities of vibrations at certain frequencies higher than tens of hertz are suppressed by two orders of magnitude in all directions.

A simple and efficient passive vibration isolation system for large loads in closed-cycle cryostats

We present a system for passive damping of vibrations along three spatial degrees of freedom for cryostats equipped with closed-cycle coolers. The system, designed to isolate a payload of 30 kg, consists of two stages of isolation for vibrations in the vertical direction. The first isolation stage incorporates a trapezoidal beryllium copper cantilever blade. The second stage is attached to the blade via a steel wire and consists of four extension springs with an extended length of 370 mm. At 1.6 K, the stages possess vertical resonance frequencies of 2.1 and 1.3 Hz, respectively. The vertical length of the setup with a cumulative length of 580 mm also acts as a pendulum with a resonance frequency of 0.65 Hz. In the frequency band from 5 to 200 Hz, the frequency-integrated acceleration decreased from 6.7 × 10^-3 to 4.3 × 10^-5 g along the horizontal direction and from 4.3 × 10^-3 to 7.2 × 10^-5 g along the vertical direction. This corresponds to a reduction in vibrations by factors of 156 and 60, respectively. Overall, we achieve a simple, robust, and cost-efficient vibration isolation system for upgrading standard-type cryostats.

Vibration Property of a Cryogenic Optical Resonator within a Pulse-Tube Cryostat

Cryogenic ultrastable laser cavities push laser stability to new levels due to their lower thermal noise limitation. Vibrational noise is one of the major obstacles to achieve a thermal-noise-limited cryogenic ultrastable laser system. Here, we carefully analyze the vibrational noise contribution to the laser frequency. We measure the vibrational noise from the top of the pulse-tube cryocooler down to the experiment space. Major differences emerge between room and cryogenic temperature operation. We cooled a homemade 6 cm sapphire optical resonator down to 3.4 K. Locking a 1064 nm laser to the resonator, we measure a frequency stability of 1.3×10−15. The vibration sensitivities change at different excitation frequencies. The vibrational noise analysis of the laser system paves the way for in situ accurate evaluation of vibrational noise for cryogenic systems. This may help in cryostat design and cryogenic precision measurements.