| The results and analysis of three projects which explore different applications of laser frequency stabilization are presented. First, relative stabilization techniques were applied to demonstrate a 24 W TEM00 beam with a beatnote linewidth of 1.6 Hz. The performance of this laser was found to be limited by amplitude and pointing instabilities, and an analysis of the effects of such processes on the stability of the system is included in an analysis of the system.; Second, an absolute frequency reference locked to a molecular iodine transition near 532 nm was demonstrated by frequency doubling a 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser in an external cavity. A complete analysis of the noise processes involved in the resonant doubler is presented, and the effects of instabilities between the doubling cavity and the laser are discussed in the context of the entire system. The long term stability of the I2 reference is shown to compare well with previous efforts.; Finally, a steady state thermo-optic model of the cw Raman laser is presented. This model includes the thermal effects inherent in Stokes generation, and predicts spatial modes changes and decreases in conversion efficiency as the output power increases. The results are shown to agree well with experimental data and are useful in the design of high power and solid state cw Raman lasers. |
