Team members:
- Andrew Hertneky
- John O'Brien
- Jason Shin
- Chris Wessels
We propose to build a digital control device for the Physics department that will be used to augment their laser cooling systems. The lasers they use are locked to a specific electronic transition of a rubidium atom and are used to cool rubidium atoms to temperatures in the micro kelvins (near absolute zero). As with all lasers, over time, they tend to drift in wavelength. Analog feedback exists to keep the laser locked at this wavelength. The laser can stay locked for very long periods of time, but perturbations such as bumping the table or rapid temperature changes can break the lock. An operator is then needed to make the delicate changes to the system to re-lock the laser. Our digital control device will do all of the work in locking and re-locking the laser and make it so all a human has to do is push a button. In order to accomplish this project, we are going to want this digital control device in a box that is 2U rack mountable. We plan to display things similar to an oscilloscope on a screen and have either a keypad or dial for user inputs. The main input from the existing analog system is produced by saturated absorption spectroscopy and gives information about the wavelength of the laser in relation to a sample of the reference material. We also plan to mount an I/O connection on the box to interface with a computer workstation, and an I/O connection to the analog control to exchange commands and status. Our main goal is to get this box to operate on its own, without help from another external computer. We then intend to give the Physics department the option of having this device controlled by an in-lab computer via an I/O port, giving our device, and the entire laser cooling system, a more automated feel.