Development and study of a 1.5 μm optical frequency standard referenced to the P(16) saturated absorption line in the (v1+v3) overtone band of 13C2H2

We describe a recently developed saturated absorption spectrometer realizing an optical frequency standard based on the P(16) transition of the (v(1) + v(3)) band of (C2H2)-C-13. Studies of stability, reproducibility and sensitivity to various parameters were performed. The current stability of the system has been measured to reach 4 x 10(-13) for an averaging time of 100 s. To our knowledge, we report the first results on the parameter shifts of the Doppler-free P(16) line. A modulation amplitude shift of 4700 +/- 300 Hz/MHz(pp), an intracavity power shift of -11.4 +/- 0.6 Hz/mW, and a pressure shift of -230 +/- 20 Hz/mTorr were measured for standard operating conditions of: 1.0 MHz(pp) modulation excursion, 120 mW intracavity power, and 20 mTorr gas pressure. Control of these parameters should allow kilohertz reproducibilities of this device in the long term. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.