David Notebook: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
==Daily Log==
'''7/8/14'''
Pumped down the cavity in case some nitrogen had leaked in over the last few weeks. Re-added deuterium to about .3 atm. Noted that the .5 nW signal when locking the cavity is present even when the path from the diffraction grating to the photodiode is blocked. The locking signal looks about the same size whether or not the path is blocked, although the offset is different. There is no noticeable difference with the 780 on or off. I tried blocking off part of the optical table at beam level, but this didn't affect the .5 nW signal. It seems that the signal is almost definitely due to scattering. The 633 bandpass filter we use is not rated at 1555, so it may be letting through significant amounts of light at this wavelength. This could explain why the signal was present when locking even with the filter in place if the signal is from scattering. Putting in the cavity window in front of the PVC pipe reduced the locking signal by about a factor of 5 both with the beam path to the detector blocked and unblocked.
 
 
 
 
'''7/7/14'''
Installed a flip mirror for the HeNe, following Nick's advice. Switching between HeNe and 780 beams is much easier now and I am more confident in the alignment of the 780. Using a mirror as we have previously done, I was able to see 633 past the PVC pipe just before the lens, so it is almost certainly hitting the photodiode given that it is getting through the pipe and that I centered it on a photodiode with a lens using the HeNe as a guide. Still though, there is no clear change in signal between having the 780 on or off when locking the 1064. Josh, Deniz, and I tried to come up with explanations as to what could cause this and alternate methods to make the measurement (See Things to Try). We thought maybe a second order beam from the diffraction grating could be angularly close to the 633, but using the grating equation with G=1800 lines/mm, no second order diffracted light should exist above 475 nm, so that seems unlikely. Two 89 THz shifts and one 8.9 THz shift could produce light in the 630 nm range, but this would probably be a weaker signal than the .5 nW we are seeing.

Navigation menu