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arXiv:1707.09196 · Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Noisy propagation of coherent states in a lossy Kerr medium

Ludwig Kunz, Matteo G. A. Paris, Konrad Banaszek

Published Jan 2, 2018• 20 citations
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Abstract

We identify and discuss nonlinear phase noise arising in Kerr self-phase modulation of a coherent light pulse propagating through an attenuating medium with third-order nonlinearity in a dispersion-free setting. This phenomenon, accompanying the standard unitary Kerr transformation of the optical field, is described with high accuracy as Gaussian phase diffusion with parameters given by closed expressions in terms of the system properties. We show that the irreversibility of the nonlinear phase noise ultimately limits the ability to transmit classical information in the phase variable over a lossy single-mode bosonic channel with Kerr-type nonlinearity. Our model can be also used to estimate the amount of squeezing attainable through self- phase modulation in a Kerr medium with distributed attenuation.

DOI
10.1364/josab.35.000214

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We identify and discuss nonlinear phase noise arising in Kerr self-phase modulation of a coherent light pulse propagating through an attenuating medium with third-order nonlinearity in a dispersion-free setting. This phenomenon, accompanying the standard unitary Kerr transformation of the optical field, is described with high accuracy as Gaussian phase diffusion with parameters given by closed expressions in terms of the system properties. We show that the irreversibility of the nonlinear phase noise ultimately limits the ability to transmit classical information in the phase variable over a lossy single-mode bosonic channel with Kerr-type nonlinearity. Our model can be also used to estimate the amount of squeezing attainable through self- phase modulation in a Kerr medium with distributed attenuation.
Intense light beams propagating in a lossless, dispersionless, single-mode optical fiber are subject to the Kerr effect, i.e., to the intensity-dependent refractive index of the fiber’s fused-silica core. Classically, Kerr-effect-induced self-phase modulation (SPM) can be used for spectral broadening of a picosecond pulse for grating-pair pulse compression down to femtosecond duration. Quantum mechanically, Kerr-effect-induced four-wave mixing (FWM) has been used to produce squeezed-state light. We present a quantum propagation theory for a lossless, dispersionless fiber with the Kerr nonlinearity. The theory includes classical SPM and quantum FWM within their regions of validity. It introduces a material time constant for the Kerr interaction, limiting the quantum phase shifts caused by the broadband zero-point fluctuations that accompany any input field, to develop a coarse-grained time multitemporal mode field analysis. Explicit expressions are obtained for the first and the second output-field moments when the fiber’s input field is in an arbitrary Gaussian state. These results are used to obtain homodyne-detection noise spectra, which are employed, in turn, to seek experimentally accessible manifestations of the Kerr time constant.
We develop a travelling-wave formulation of the theory of quantum optics and apply it to the description of the self-phase modulation of a short coherent pulse of light. The infinite nonlinear phase shift that is produced by the vacuum fluctuations is treated, within our approach, through a renormalization procedure. The renormalized theory successfully describes the nonlinear chirp that the pulse undergoes in the course of its propagation and permits the calculation of the squeezing characteristics of self-phase modulation.
With the use of a quantum theory of optical propagation, a set of nonlinear stochastic partial differential equations may be derived which describes the quantum-statistical properties of traveling waves due to self-phase modulation in a nonlinear medium. We calculate exact moments for the field, which exhibit classical self-phase modulation in the short-interaction limit and periodic quantum evolution through field-superposition states in the long-interaction limit. Reversible and irreversible behaviors of the stochastic description are reviewed. The relation of the present work to the corresponding single-mode nonlinear oscillator is discussed.
This paper presents a theory for quantum light propagation in a single-mode fiber which includes the effects of the Kerr nonlinearity, group-velocity dispersion, and linear loss. The theory reproduces the results of classical self-phase modulation, quantum four-wave mixing, and classical solution physics, within their respective regions of validity. It demonstrates the crucial role played by the Kerr-effect material time constant, in limiting the quantum phase shifts caused by the broadband zero-point fluctuations that accompany any quantized input field. Operator moment equations - approximated, numerically, via a terminated cumulant expansion - are used to obtain results for homodyne-measurement noise spectra when dispersion is negligible. More complicated forms of these equations can be used to incorporate dispersion into the noise calculations.
A systematic theory of the formation of squeezed states during the propagation of coherent light pulses in a medium with an inertial Kerr nonlinearity is developed. It is established that the region of the spectrum where the quadrature fluctuations are weaker than the shot noise depends on both the relaxation time of the nonlinearity and the magnitude of the nonlinear phase shift. It is also shown that the frequency at which suppression of the fluctuations is greatest can be controlled by adjusting the phase of the pulse.