Open AccessSimple and robust phase-locking of optical cavities with > 200 KHz servo-bandwidth using a piezo-actuated mirror mounted in soft materials
Author(s) -
David Goldovsky,
Valery Jouravsky,
Avi Pe’er
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.24.028239
Subject(s) - optics , mechanical resonance , actuator , materials science , servo , bandwidth (computing) , piezoelectricity , decoupling (probability) , deformable mirror , wavefront , acoustics , physics , vibration , computer science , computer network , control engineering , artificial intelligence , engineering
We present an approach to locking of optical cavities with piezoelectric actuated mirrors based on a simple and effective mechanical decoupling of the mirror and actuator from the surrounding mount. Using simple elastic materials (e.g. rubber or soft silicone gel pads) as mechanical dampers between the piezo-mirror compound and the surrounding mount, a firm and stable mounting of a relatively large mirror (8mm diameter) can be maintained that is isolated from external mechanical resonances, and is limited only by the internal piezo-mirror resonance of > 330 KHz. Our piezo lock showed positive servo gain up to 208 KHz, and a temporal response to a step interference within < 3 μs.