Narrow linewidth tunable external cavity diode laser using wide bandwidth filter

We demonstrate single mode operation of an external cavity diode laser (ECDL) employing an interference filter with multimode bandwidth for mode selection. A cateye reflector maximizes feedback efficiency and reduces susceptibility to intra-cavity optical misalignment. Narrow linewidths of 26 kHz are observed, and the laser can be tuned over 14 nm using a single 785 nm filter, without alteration of the output beam direction. The cateye reflector and filter allow a mechanically rigid design free of significant mechanical resonances, illustrated by comparison of the frequency noise spectrum with that of a common Littrow ECDL design using a diffraction grating and kinematic mount.