Prospects of a superradiant laser based on a thermal or guided beam of Sr-88

Abstract

The prospects of superradiant lasing on the 7.5 kHz wide $^1$S$_0$-$^3$P$_1$ transition in $^{88}$Sr is explored by using numerical simulations of two systems based on realistic experimental numbers. One system uses the idea of demonstrating continuous superradiance in a simple, hot atom beam with high flux, and the other system is based on using ultra-cold atoms in a dipole guide. We find that the hot beam system achieves lasing above a flux of $2.5 \times 10^{12}$ atoms/s. It is capable of outputting hundreds of nW and suppressing cavity noise by a factor of 20-30. The second order Doppler shift causes a shift in the lasing frequency on the order of 500 Hz. For the cold atom beam we account for decoherence and thermal effects when using a repumping scheme for atoms confined in a dipole guide. We find that the output power is on the order of hundreds of pW, however the second order Doppler shift can be neglected, and cavity noise can be suppressed on the order of a factor 50-100. Additionally we show that both systems exhibit local insensitivity to fluctuations in atomic flux.