Laser development for LISA

Abstract

The two most promising configurations for the LISA laser are a stand-alone diode-pumped nonplanar ring oscillator (NPRO) or a fibre amplifier seeded by a low-power NPRO. The stand-alone laser was stabilized in frequency to a ULE cavity and in power to an electronic reference. For the first time the LISA requirement of relative power noise below 2 × 10-4/Hz 1/2 was fulfilled in the whole frequency range from 0.1 mHz to 1 Hz. The LISA goal of frequency noise below 30 Hz/Hz1/2 was achieved for frequencies above 3 mHz. As a first step in the characterization of an oscillator-amplifier system, the excess frequency noise of an ytterbium-doped fibre amplifier was measured. For frequencies between 0.1 mHz and 1 Hz the excess noise was measured to be below 0.1 Hz/Hz1/2, which is significantly below the free-running frequency noise of NPROs. © 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd.