This thesis use laser diode, lens, grating, and mirrors to composite the external cavity system to retrieve the thickness of the liquid crystal and its characteristics. This way is different to the traditional way of measure. It has good accuracy on the vertical resolution and the vertical resolution can reach to 0.3£gm. At the same time, it can develop the high quality of horizontal resolution. On the basis of the correlation between the cavity length and the wavelength of the semiconductor laser, the system is capable of developing high horizontal resolution of accurate liquid crystal measurements. The horizontal resolution can reach to 40£gm. Furthermore, by adding bias on liquid crystal through this system, it expanded more understandings on the influences of bias and induced electric field of the electrodes to the tilting angle of the liquid crystal.

Thesis (MSc (Physics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / In the presented study a diode laser was characterised and used for spec- troscopy, measuring the resonance lines of atomic rubidium. The characteristics of diode lasers and external cavity diode lasers (ECDL) for the purposes of ab- sorption spectroscopy were investigated and an experimental setup for tunable diode laser spectroscopy using an ECDL was developed. In external cavity diode lasers, the advantages of low cost, small size and e ciency of a diode laser is combined with tunability and a narrow frequency bandwidth. The ECDL was applied in experimental setups for absorption spectroscopy and saturated ab- sorption spectroscopy. Measurement of the absorption of atomic rubidium's D2 line near 780 nm is discussed. The Doppler broadened, as well as the Doppler free spectrum of the ne and hyper ne structure of the D2 line were measured and is discussed. Finer control of the ECDL's stability and frequency, using a servo circuit, were investigated and tested. An overview is given of laser cool- ing and trapping of neutral rubidium atoms, which is the main application the ECDL were developed for.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo principal desenvolver uma nova fonte de laser de diodo compacta e robusta, além de um novo drive de controle para serem utilizados em padrões primário de tempo e frequência tipo chafariz de átomo de Césio e padrões compacto baseados em átomos frios. Um dos requisitos para utilização de laser de diodo em padrões primários de tempo e frequência é sua estabilidade em frequência e baixíssimo ruído espectral. Além disto, dada à aplicação embarcada, o laser deve ser extremamente robusto com relação às condições adversas: mecânicas, térmicas e elétricas. Tanto a parte optomecânica, quanto os controles eletrônicos do novo laser foram desenvolvidos neste trabalho. Vale salientar que tal sistema, em sua concepção, é de grande interesse para diversos outros tipos de aplicação, como espectroscopia de gases (LIDAR), referências em outras frequências e experimentos de física atômica e molecular, que possuem elevados níveis de exigência com relação a ruídos espectrais. / This work has as main objective to develop a new source of diode laser compact and robust, beyond a new drive control for use in primary of time and frequency standards type cesium atom fountain and compact standards-based cold atoms. One of the requirements for the use of diode laser in primary of time and frequency standards are their stability in frequency and are very low spectral noise. Furthermore, given the embedded application, the laser must be extremely robust with respect to adverse conditions: mechanical, thermal and electrical. Both opto-mechanical part, as the electronic controls of the new laser were developed in this work. It is noteworthy that such a system, in its conception, is of great interest to many other types of applications such as spectroscopy of gases (LIDAR), references in other frequencies and experiments of atomic and molecular physics, which have high levels of demand with respect to spectral noise.

Phase locking of external-cavity diodes laser¡]ECDL¡^ to the stabilized optical frequency combs of a femtosecond mode-locked laser. Optical frequency combs of a femtosecond mode-locked laser can be the reference standard of dual-wavelength external-cavity diode lasers (ECDLs). Frequency stabilization of two external-cavity diode laser is also demonstrated simultaneously.Suppression of the frequency fluctuation of two ECDLs from hundreds MHz to 200 Hz is demonstrated and characterized. Meanwhile, frequency tunable continuous-wave Tera-Hertz (cw THz) wave is generated and observed by photomixing of the output of two frequency stabilized ECDLS with tunable relative frequency difference on a photoconductive antennas. In our experiment, cw THz wave is demonstrated and with tuning range from 0.200 to 1.240THz and could be attribute as frequency standard of THz.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo principal desenvolver uma nova fonte de laser de diodo compacta e robusta, além de um novo drive de controle para serem utilizados em padrões primário de tempo e frequência tipo chafariz de átomo de Césio e padrões compacto baseados em átomos frios. Um dos requisitos para utilização de laser de diodo em padrões primários de tempo e frequência é sua estabilidade em frequência e baixíssimo ruído espectral. Além disto, dada à aplicação embarcada, o laser deve ser extremamente robusto com relação às condições adversas: mecânicas, térmicas e elétricas. Tanto a parte optomecânica, quanto os controles eletrônicos do novo laser foram desenvolvidos neste trabalho. Vale salientar que tal sistema, em sua concepção, é de grande interesse para diversos outros tipos de aplicação, como espectroscopia de gases (LIDAR), referências em outras frequências e experimentos de física atômica e molecular, que possuem elevados níveis de exigência com relação a ruídos espectrais. / This work has as main objective to develop a new source of diode laser compact and robust, beyond a new drive control for use in primary of time and frequency standards type cesium atom fountain and compact standards-based cold atoms. One of the requirements for the use of diode laser in primary of time and frequency standards are their stability in frequency and are very low spectral noise. Furthermore, given the embedded application, the laser must be extremely robust with respect to adverse conditions: mechanical, thermal and electrical. Both opto-mechanical part, as the electronic controls of the new laser were developed in this work. It is noteworthy that such a system, in its conception, is of great interest to many other types of applications such as spectroscopy of gases (LIDAR), references in other frequencies and experiments of atomic and molecular physics, which have high levels of demand with respect to spectral noise.

Thesis (MSc (Physics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / External cavity diode lasers are used increasingly as sources of light in applications ranging from industrial photonic systems to basic laboratory research on the interaction of light and atoms. External cavity diode lasers offer more stable output frequency and narrow spectral bandwidth than the typical free-running diode lasers. These characteristics are achieved by exploiting the sensitivity of diode lasers to external optical feedback. In this study the design and development of an external cavity diode laser system for future applications in spectroscopy and laser cooling of rubidium atoms is presented. The external cavity diode laser including mechanical components and control electronics of the system is developed from basic components. The system uses frequency selective optical feedback from a diffraction grating in a Littrow configuration to provide collimated, narrow-band, frequency tunable light near 780 nm. The external cavity diode laser is designed to increase the mode-hop-free frequency tuning range, and allow accurate frequency tuning and stabilisation. A low-noise current source and a temperature controller for thermal stability were developed as part of the system since the output frequency changes with temperature and current. The temperature controller is optimised experimentally for the thermal characteristics of the external cavity. An electronic sidelock servo circuit for frequency locking of the external cavity diode laser to an external reference for long term frequency stabilisation is proposed and discussed. The servo circuit electrically controls the grating tilt and the current through the diode laser in order to lock the frequency of the diode laser. The external cavity diode laser is optimised and characterised near 780 nm. Results obtained in this study indicate that the external cavity diode laser is suitable for future applications in spectroscopy and laser cooling of neutral rubidium atoms.