A micromachined silicon flexure for tunable external cavity diode laser

We present a novel external cavity diode laser design developed for atomic physics which employs a micromachined silicon flexure to sweep the laser frequency and a volume holographic reflection grating (VHG) to provide the optical feedback. The advantages of using a silicon flexure are its simple micro fabrication process and reduction of the overall size of the laser system. The results demonstrate an optimized threshold current reduction from 59mA to 43mA, a frequency sweeping range of 2.069 GHz, and Rb-87, Rb-85 (Rubidium) D-2 line absorption at 780 nm.