Ultrastable Silicon Cavity in a Continuously Operating Closed-Cycle Cryostat at 4 K

We report on a laser locked to a silicon cavity operating continuously at 4 K with 1 x 10(-16) instability and a median linewidth of 17 mHz at 1542 nm. This is a tenfold improvement in short-term instability, and a 10(4) improvement in linewidth, over previous sub-10-K systems. Operating at low temperatures reduces the thermal noise floor and, thus, is advantageous toward reaching an instability of 10(-18), a long-sought goal of the optical clock community. The performance of this system demonstrates the technical readiness for the development of the next generation of ultrastable lasers that operate with an ultranarrow linewidth and long-term stability without user intervention.