Absolute Frequency Readout of Cavity against Atomic Reference

Abstract

Future space-based geodesy missions such as the Mass Change Mission and the Next Generation Gravity Mission are expected to rely on laser ranging as their primary instrument. Short-term laser frequency stability has previously been achieved on the GRACE Follow On mission by stabilizing the lasers to an optical cavity. The development of a technique to provide long-term laser frequency stability is expected to be required. We have previously demonstrated a technique to track long-term frequency changes by using measurements of the optical cavity’s free spectral range. In this paper, we calibrate this technique to absolute frequency by using an atomic reference. We have also validated an approach for on-ground calibration to allow the absolute frequency to be determined whilst in orbit.