Tunable narrow-linewidth laser at 2 μm wavelength for gravitational wave detector research

We present and characterize a narrow-linewidth external-cavity diode laser at 2 μm, and show that it represents a low-cost, high-performance alternative to fiber lasers for research into 2 μm photonic technologies for next-generation gravitational-wave detectors. A linewidth of 20 kHz for a 10 ms integration time was measured without any active stabilization, with frequency noise of ∼ 15 Hz/Hz between 3 kHz and 100 kHz. This performance is suitable for the generation of quantum squeezed light, and we measure intensity noise comparable to that of master oscillators used in current gravitational wave interferometers. The laser wavelength is tunable over a 120 nm range, and both the frequency and intensity can be modulated at up to 10 MHz by modulating the diode current. These features also make it suitable for other emerging applications in the 2 μm wavelength region including gas sensing, optical communications and LIDAR.