Ultranarrow Linewidth Photonic-Atomic Laser

Lasers with high spectral purity can enable a diverse application space, including precision spectroscopy, coherent high-speed communications, physical sensing, and manipulation of quantum systems. Already, meticulous design and construction of bench Fabry–Perot cavities has made possible dramatic achievements in active laser-linewidth reduction, predominantly for optical-atomic clocks. Yet, there is increasing demand for miniaturized laser systems operating with high performance in ambient environments. Here, a compact and robust photonic-atomic laser comprising a 2.5 centimeter long, 20 000 finesse, monolithic Fabry–Perot cavity integrated with a micromachined rubidium vapor cell is presented. By leveraging the short-time frequency stability of the cavity and the long-time frequency stability of atoms, an ultranarrow-linewidth laser that enables integration for extended measurements is realized. Specifically, the laser supports a fractional-frequency stability of (Formula presented.) at an averaging time of 20 millisecond, (Formula presented.) at 300 second, an integrated linewidth of 25 Hz that results from thermal noise, frequency noise floor as low as 0.06 Hz² Hz⁻¹, and a passive vibration immunity as low as 10⁻¹⁰ g⁻¹. The present work explores hybrid laser systems with monolithic photonic and atomic packages based on physical design.