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We propose and demonstrate a new autolocking scheme using a three-mirror ring cavity consisting of a linear quadratic regulator and a time-varying Kalman filter. Our technique does not require a frequency scan to acquire resonance. We utilize the singular perturbation method to simplify our system dynamics and to permit the application of linear control techniques. The error signal combined with the transmitted power is used to estimate the cavity detuning. This estimate is used by a linear time-varying Kalman filter which enables the implementation of an optimal controller. The experimental results validate the controller design, and we demonstrate improved robustness to disturbances and a faster locking time than a traditional proportional-integral controller. More important, the time-varying Kalman filtering approach automatically reacquires lock for large detunings, where the error signal leaves its linear capture range, a feat which linear time-invariant controllers cannot achieve.

In this paper, we consider the application of linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control to the problem of optimizing the level of squeezing in one of the quadratures of an optical field. Squeezed states of light can be generated when two optical fields (at

Systematic approaches to the design of quantum optical systems will become more and more important as their complexity grows. One such systematic technique is the Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) methodology. Here we describe the design and implementation of a LQG feedback controller in a quantum optical experiment—frequency‐locking an optical cavity to a laser. The successful implementation of the LQG design procedure to this particular problem lays the groundwork for the application of other modern control techniques to quantum optical systems. Our results are promising for future, more complex stabilisation problems in quantum optics, as the described approach is inherently multi‐variable and naturally incorporates multiple sensors and actuators as well as nested loops.

We show that a systematic modern control technique such as linear-quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control can be applied to a problem in experimental quantum optics which has previously been addressed using traditional approaches to controller design. An LQG controller which includes integral action is synthesized to stabilize the frequency of the cavity to the laser frequency and to reject low frequency noise. The controller is successfully implemented in the laboratory using a dSpace digital signal processing board. One important advantage of the LQG technique is that it can be extended in a straightforward way to control systems with multiple measurements and multiple feedback loops. This work is expected to pave the way for extremely stable lasers with fluctuations approaching the quantum noise limit and which could be potentially used in a wide range of applications.