Abstract

Nd:YAG lasers represent one of the most commonly used tools in the laser measurements laboratory, yet the mode control and frequency stabilization of these laser sources Is a longstanding problem which has limited the precision with which many measurements can be made. One particularly attractive solution to this problem is the injection locking of laboratory scale Nd:YAG oscillators^1,2 to small diode-laser-pumped monolithic Nd:YAG lasers.³ We have achieved reliable operation of such a system by incorporating a novel feedback scheme to maintain the required match between the master and slave resonator cavity lengths. As a demonstration of this reliability, we have obtained both fluorescence excitation and sub-Doppler polarization spectra of l₂ by temperature tuning the mini-YAG master oscillator to produce scans of up to 2 cm⁻¹ in the second harmonic output of the slave laser. The latter spectra should prove extremely useful for long-term stabilization of the system to an absolute frequency reference.

© 1986 Optical Society of America