MOG Laboratories Pty Ltd (MOGlabs) is a partnership between Robert Scholten and Alex Slavec. It is an offshoot of the Melbourne Optics Group, in particular Rob's atom optics laboratory, at the University of Melbourne School of Physics.

In the late 1980's and early 90's, there was an explosion of research in laser-atom interactions, enabled in part by the advent of cheap semiconductor laser diodes. While these laser diodes were not exactly ideal for atom optics research, they could be coerced into behaving tolerably well, by adding an external dispersive cavity and some electronic feedback control (see optics web site and some publications).

The optics and mechanical aspects are relatively easy. And the electronics can be too, if you're not particular about the stability, linewidth, or ease of use. Alas, we were demanding. We wanted linewidths of a fraction of a MHz, and we didn't really appreciate how demanding that can be. After considerable suffering, and with the help of many exceedingly good graduate students (see below), we learned a few things. When Alex Slavec joined the team, we were able to turn our knowledge and ideas into a thing of beauty: the MOGbox.

What makes the MOGbox special? Mostly it is ease-of-use. All the things you need to control and lock a single-frequency diode laser are all in one compact box. It's all analogue - which costs a little more, but we're sure you will agree that the performance and "feel" make it worthwhile. The MOGbox has all the adjustments you need, with the right response, without distracting things you don't need. It's hard to convey: you just have to try it for awhile.

And best of all, the cost is remarkably low: for not much more than the price of a competitor's current/temperature controller of lower performance, you can have both ac and dc feedback locking, in-built phase-sensitive detector (lock-in amp), high-voltage piezo actuator drivers, modulator driver, and high-speed low-noise differential photodetector. Even if you don't need all that, you will still benefit from the lower current noise and improved ergonomics.

The people

Many have contributed to the intellectual underpinnings of MOGlabs, in particular PhD students Dr. Lincoln Turner now at NIST, MD USA; Karl Weber now at Cambridge; Dr. Phil Fox at Note Printing Australia, and Dr. Mirek Walkiewicz.

Prof. Jamie White from Juniata College, PA, USA, made susbstantial contributions during his sabbatical at the University of Melbourne in 2004 and continues to provide direct feedback on real-life lab usability and performance.

Alex Slavec is the mastermind behind the electronics design. Alex contributes schematic design and simulation, circuit board layouts, management of the manufacturing process, testing and debugging.

Robert Scholten is an academic doing research in laser-atom interactions. Current interests include imaging of ultracold atoms, atomic coherence, ultra-cold plasmas, and of course lab technology including lasers and electronics.