Continuously tunable external-cavity diode laser with a double-grating arrangement

A new external-cavity diode laser system based on an extended version of the Littman configuration is investigated. In our laser system the tuning mirror is replaced with a second grating mounted at the Littrow angle. This double-grating design provides a smaller passive bandwidth than the grating-mirror configuration, which is used to compensate for the large angle-of-incidence-dependent losses of the grazing-incidence grating. This results in a broader continuous tuning range with an improved mode stability. Because two laser diodes, emitting at 820 and 775 nm, respectively, are used, the external-cavity laser is continuously tunable without mode hops across 35 nm at 820 nm and 27 nm at 775 nm. Such a laser was used to measure the absorption lines of the oxygen A band around 762 nm. The complete R- and P-rotational branches of the b (1) Sigma(g)(+)(nu '' = 0) <-- X (3) Sigma(g)(-)(nu' = 0) transition were recorded in a single-wavelength scan. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.