Development and evaluation of compact acetylene frequency standards

This paper describes the development and evaluation of compact and simple acetylene-stabilized diode laser frequency standards in the 1.55 µm spectral region. A variety of spectroscopic configurations have been investigated, using bulk acetylene cells and an acetylene-filled hollow core photonic crystal fiber. Frequency stability and reproducibility data, obtained by heterodyne beat frequency comparison with cavity-enhanced standards, will be presented for sources including a distributed feedback diode laser and a digital supermode distributed Bragg reflector diode laser. © 2012 IEEE.