Laser frequency stabilization using folded cavity and mirror reflectivity tuning

A new method of laser frequency stabilization using polarization property of an optical cavity is proposed. In a standard Fabry-Perot cavity, the coating layers thickness of cavity mirrors is calculated to obtain the same phase shift for s- and p-wave but a slight detuning from the nominal thickness can produce s- and p-wave phase detuning. As a result, each wave accumulates a different round-trip phase shift and resonates at a different frequency. Using this polarization property, an error signal is generated by a simple setup consisting of a quarter wave-plate rotated at 45°, a polarizing beam splitter and two photodiodes. This method exhibits similar error signal as the Pound-Drever-Hall technique but without need for any frequency modulation. Lock theory and experimental results are presented in this paper.