Abstract

We present a new atomic line filter concept for the detection of frequency-doubled Nd:BEL laser radiation. Advantage is taken of the thallium 6²P_3/2 metastable energy level whose large lifetime can be preserved even in small vapor cells. The filter is pumped intermittently by a low-power spectral lamp and thereby combines the benefits of active and passive operation. Analysis of a proposed final design shows that simple engineering solutions exist, and excellent filter properties can be deduced. We have experimentally demonstrated the new operating principle in a preliminary setup.

© 1991 Optical Society of America

Proposed Fraunhofer-wavelength atomic filter at 534.9 nm

Jerry A. Gelbwachs
Opt. Lett. 15(20) 1165-1167 (1990)

Passive Fraunhofer-wavelength atomic filter at 422.7 nm

Jerry A. Gelbwachs and Yat C. Chan
Opt. Lett. 16(5) 336-338 (1991)

Ultranarrow line filtering using a Cs Faraday filter at 852 nm

J. Menders, K. Benson, S. H. Bloom, C. S. Liu, and Eric Korevaar
Opt. Lett. 16(11) 846-848 (1991)

Experimental demonstration of internal wavelength conversion in the magnesium atomic filter

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Opt. Lett. 14(14) 722-724 (1989)

Induced-dichroism-excited atomic line filter at 532 nm

S. K. Gayen, R. I. Billmers, V. M. Contarino, M. F. Squicciarini, W. J. Scharpf, Guangning Yang, P. R. Herczfeld, and D. M. Allocca
Opt. Lett. 20(12) 1427-1429 (1995)