HELIUM-NEON LASER STABILIZED BY SATURATED ABSORPTION IN IODINE AT 612-NM

Hyperfine structure of iodine has been studied at 612 nm by the technique of saturated absorption in an iodine cell placed in a He–Ne laser modified to operate at this wavelength.The most interesting feature of the laser is the existence of strong inverted Lamb dips at a very low vapor pressure, which provides very good short term frequency stability.Some factors which limit the reproducibility of the device are also investigated.© 1979 Optical Society of America.