Abstract
This study reports on the development of a portable iodine-stabilized 543 nm (green) length-standard laser, which is low cost and robust. All the needed optics and electronics were integrated into one box which measured 36 cm in length, 30 cm in width, and 15 cm in height. Simple circuits for third harmonic locking are presented and the laser's frequency instability could be as small as 2×10-12, normalized to one hertz bandwidth. The influence of the magnetic field to the locking point of the 543 nm length-standard transitions was investigated. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.