UCLA

I demonstrate a technique for frequency stabilization and modulation transfer spectroscopy using a low-cost external cavity laser (ECL) system. The 1108 nm pump beam is jointly locked to a cavity using the Pound-Drever-Hall technique and to an iodine transition using modulation transfer spectroscopy, with frequency stabilized to < 2 MHz. Absolute frequency measurements of molecular iodine hyperfine transitions at the frequency-doubled 554 nm are reported within a frequency region range of 1.4 GHz. The precision of measurements of each hyperfine component are within � 2 MHz. The results suggest this application is appropriate for short-term frequency stabilization and measurements of hyperfine transitions, but more work is needed to determine if the system is viable for more advanced applications and trapped ion experiments.