8 × 10^−17 fractional laser frequency instability with a long room-temperature cavity

Abstract

We present a laser system based on a 48 cm long optical glass resonator. The large size requires a sophisticated thermal control and optimized mounting design. A self balancing mounting was essential to reliably reach sensitivities to acceleration of below $\Delta u / u$ < 2E-10 /g in all directions. Furthermore, fiber noise cancellations from a common reference point near the laser diode to the cavity mirror and to additional user points (Sr clock and frequency comb) are implemented. Through comparison to other cavity-stabilized lasers and to a strontium lattice clock an instability of below 1E-16 at averaging times from 1 s to 1000 s is revealed.