Use of a Microcontroller for Fast Feedback Control of a Fiber Laser

An inexpensive, easily programmed microcontroller is demonstrated for the fast frequency stabilization of an infrared fiber laser. The microcontroller manages all digitalization and processing, with external circuitry only providing buffering, amplification and overvoltage protection. Several convenient features are included to recover from common failure modes of a laser lock system, and a final Nyquist frequency of 200 kHz is obtained, corresponding to a usable bandwidth of 40-60 kHz.