Programming of the Wavelength Stabilization for a Titanium:Sapphire Laser using LabVIEW and Implementation into the CERN ISOLDE RILIS Measurement System

In the context of this work the foundation for the commissioning of a comprehensive environmental and operational data acquisition system was established. This development was performed for the Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS) at the ISOLDE radioactive ion beam facility within the European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN. As an essential step towards long-term automated operation, a remote control and wavelength stabilization system for the RILIS titanium:sapphire lasers was put into operation. This required the installation of a data recording infrastructure to work with a distributed sensor network. After operational data within the CERN technical computing network was collected and analyzed, the required wavelength adjustment was automatically performed by a stepper motor-driven correction system. The configuration of the hardware for acquisition and control and the integration of the dedicated system modules was performed using the graphical and data flow oriented programming language LabVIEW. By providing an extendable software framework, the whole system favors a modular design which allows for easy expansion and maintenance accommodating to future automation developments. The system was installed and commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2011 and is an on-going development with the aim of improving maintenance, protecting sensitive equipment and ensuring a constant, optimal laser ionization efficiency and ion beam quality for the users of ISOLDE