External cavity diode laser with frequency drift following natural variation in air pressure

A compact and mechanically very robust external cavity diode laser was made by removing any position adjusters such as precision screws and piezo actuators, taking advantage of a cat's eye retroreflector insensitive to misalignment. Under free-running operation during 150 h, the frequency drift followed natural variation in air pressure with a ratio of -66.6±0.1 MHz/hPa in a range between 1001.5 and 1013.6 hPa. The ratio was in good agreement with that estimated from variation in the effective cavity length derived from the relation between the pressure and the refractive index of air. These results indicate that an external cavity diode laser with predictable frequency drift was successfully created.