Demonstration of an excited-state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter at 1529 nm by use of an electrodeless discharge rubidium vapor lamp

An excited-state Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (ESFADOF) operating on the rubidium 5P_3/2-4D_5/2 transition (1529.4 nm in vacuum) is demonstrated, which utilizes an electrodeless discharge lamp rather than a laser-pumped Rb vapor cell as in a traditional ESFADOF system. When the lamp operates in the red mode with 3.5 W radio-frequency driving power, a twin-peak line-shaped transmission spectrum is obtained, which has a maximum transmittance of 21.9 (without taking into account the system loss and fluorescence background). ESFADOF by exploiting the 5P_3/2-4D _3/2 transition (1529.3 nm in vacuum) is also explored. A single-peak transmission spectrum with a maximum transmittance of about 3 is achieved. The electrodeless discharge lamp based ESFADOF holds promise for realizing a compact, low-cost, and good long-term frequency-stabilized laser system for optical communication applications.