Toward the realization of a wavelength standard at 780 nm based on a laser diode frequency locked to rubidium vapor

The authors present the result of a study on the realization of an optical frequency standard based on a laser diode frequency-locked to Doppler resonance limited and sub-Doppler resonances of the /sup 87/Rb D/sub 2/-line (5S/sub 1/2/ from or to 5P/sub 3/2/, 780.027 nm). The characteristics of the signals obtained from the resonant phase-conjugate reflection, the nonlinear magnetic optical activity, and the saturated absorption are compared to the characteristics of the linear absorption signal. Improvement of laser diode frequency stability is discussed for these techniques. The experimental results indicate that the more complicated the system, the better defined is the reference line. >