Progress in an experiment to measure the frequency of an l2-stabilized dye laser at 520 THz (576 nm)

The frequency of a dye laser locked to an I₂ peak at 576 nm is to be measured against a pair of cesium-calibrated rubidium clocks by using a harmonic-generation and frequency-mixing chain and counting the beats simultaneously. Much of the chain has been constructed and a colorcenter laser required is being developed. A pair of I₂-stabilized dye lasers have been found to have a single-sigma reproducibility of about 19 kHz or 4 parts in 10¹¹.