It is shown that the quantum intensity noise of a single-emitter nanolaser can be accurately computed by adopting a stochastic interpretation of the standard rate equation model. The only assumption made is that the emitter excitation and photon number are stochastic variables with integer values. This extends the validity of rate equations beyond the mean-field limit and avoids using the standard Langevin approach, which is shown to fail for few emitters. The model is validated by comparison to full quantum simulations of the relative intensity noise and second-order intensity correlation function, g^{(2)}(0). Surprisingly, even when the full quantum model displays vacuum Rabi oscillations, which are not accounted for by rate equations, the intensity quantum noise is correctly predicted by the stochastic approach. Adopting a simple discretization of the emitter and photon populations, thus, goes a long way in describing quantum noise in lasers. Besides providing a versatile and easy-to-use tool for modeling emerging nanolasers, these results provide insight into the fundamental nature of quantum noise in lasers.
It is shown that the quantum intensity noise of a single-emitter nanolaser can be accurately computed by adopting a stochastic interpretation of the standard rate equation model. The only assumption made is that the emitter excitation and photon number are stochastic variables with integer values. This extends the validity of rate equations beyond the mean-field limit and avoids using the standard Langevin approach, which is shown to fail for few emitters. The model is validated by comparison to full quantum simulations of the relative intensity noise and second-order intensity correlation function, g^{(2)}(0). Surprisingly, even when the full quantum model displays vacuum Rabi oscillations, which are not accounted for by rate equations, the intensity quantum noise is correctly predicted by the stochastic approach. Adopting a simple discretization of the emitter and photon populations, thus, goes a long way in describing quantum noise in lasers. Besides providing a versatile and easy-to-use tool for modeling emerging nanolasers, these results provide insight into the fundamental nature of quantum noise in lasers.
The random nature of spontaneous emission leads to unavoidable fluctuations in a laser's output. This is often included through random Langevin forces in laser rate equations, but this approach falls short for nanolasers. In this paper, we show that the laser quantum noise can be quantitatively computed for a very broad class of lasers by starting from simple and intuitive rate equations and merely assuming that the number of photons and excited electrons only takes discrete values. While the approach has seen previous success, we here derive it rigorously from an open quantum system master equation, whereas it was previously introduced only on phenomenological grounds. We further show that in the many-photon limit, the model simplifies to Langevin equations. We perform an extensive comparison of different approaches for computing quantum noise in lasers, identifying the best approach for different system sizes, ranging from nanolasers to macroscopic lasers, and different levels of excitation, i.e., cavity photon number. In particular, we show that below the laser threshold, stochastic fluctuations in the numerical solution to the Langevin equations can drive populations to unphysical negative values, requiring the introduction of population bounds, which in turn skew the noise statistics, leading to inaccuracies. The Laser Markov Chain model, on the other hand, is accurate for all pump values and laser sizes when collective emitter effects are excluded.
Laser amplification kicks off with just a few photons in the cavity, a regime where standard additive Langevin noise cannot capture the real fluctuations. To understand how this amplification begins, we map out a single-mode photon-carrier model that links macroscopic lasers directly into nanolasers. Stationary rate equations reveal that stimulated emission takes over across a tight pump window. In nanolasers, however, spontaneous processes coexist across a much broader range. Because steady-state averages miss the individual events that lead to the macroscopic photon number, we frame the stochastic dynamics around the actual discrete transitions, deriving a state-dependent diffusion approximation. The destruction of an excited carrier concurrent with the generation of a photon creates a negative photon-carrier cross-correlation. This unavoidably leads to a correlated, multiplicative Gaussian-noise framework. We track the resulting discrete dynamics with an established, event-based Laser Markov Chain (LMC) which stochastically samples pump, relaxation, emission, and cavity-loss events keeping all physical quantities as non-negative integers. Comparing its predictions to those of our multiplicative model proves that the latter reproduces excellently well the statistical behavior of photons and carrier, as long as a continuous diffusion description holds. Once the emission drops into the few-photon regime, however, the discrete model becomes indispensable. On the other hand, at large photon counts relative fluctuations shrink to a level where the state-dependence of the diffusion matrix can be ignored, to leading order, thus returning to the classic Langevin description of the system's stochastic dynamics.
Using two equivalent methods, the Heisenberg-Langevin and the master equation, we investigate the properties of a single-emitter nanolaser: an incoherently pumped single two-level system interacting with a single cavity mode of finite finesse. We are interested in a stationary generation regime when the mean number of photons inside the laser cavity is much larger than unity. In this case we linearize the Heisenberg-Langevin equations around the stationary classical solution and obtain analytical results for the linewidth, the quadrature fluctuation spectra, and the intracavity Mandel Q parameter. As the second method we use the master equation for the density operator of the laser field. Using the coherent-state representation of the density matrix we obtain the stationary solution for the Glauber P function of the laser mode and investigate the quantum statistics of the laser field and its threshold behavior. We compare the results of both methods with numerical simulations and find very good agreement. In the end we use our theoretical results for analyzing experiment with single-ion nanolasers.
Based on a rate equation model for single-mode two-level lasers, two algorithms for stochastically simulating the dynamics and steady-state behaviour of micro- and nanolasers are described in detail. Both methods lead to steady-state photon numbers and statistics characteristic of lasers, but one of the algorithms is shown to be significantly more efficient. This algorithm, known as Gillespie's First Reaction Method (FRM), gives up to a thousandfold reduction in computation time compared to earlier algorithms, while also circumventing numerical issues regarding time-increment size and ordering of events. The FRM is used to examine intra-cavity photon distributions, and it is found that the numerical results follow the analytics exactly. Finally, the FRM is applied to a set of slightly altered rate equations, and it is shown that both the analytical and numerical results exhibit features that are typically associated with the presence of strong inter-emitter correlations in nanolasers.
Based on a rate equation model for single-mode two-level lasers, two algorithms for stochastically simulating the dynamics and steady-state behaviour of micro- and nanolasers are described in detail. Both methods lead to steady-state photon numbers and statistics characteristic of lasers, but one of the algorithms is shown to be significantly more efficient. This algorithm, known as Gillespie's first reaction method (FRM), gives up to a thousandfold reduction in computation time compared to earlier algorithms, while also circumventing numerical issues regarding time-increment size and ordering of events. The FRM is used to examine intra-cavity photon distributions, and it is found that the numerical results follow the analytics exactly. Finally, the FRM is applied to a set of slightly altered rate equations, and it is shown that both the analytical and numerical results exhibit features that are typically associated with the presence of strong inter-emitter correlations in nanolasers.
Using a fully stochastic numerical scheme, we theoretically investigate the behavior of a nanolaser in the lasing transition region under the influence of intensity feedback. Studying the input-output curves as well as the second-order correlations for different feedback fractions, we obtain an insight into the role played by the fraction of photons reinjected into the cavity. Our results reveal that the transition shrinks and moves to lower pump values with the feedback strength, and irregular pulses can be generated when the feedback is sufficiently large. The interpretation of the observation is strengthened through the comparison with the temporal traces of the emitted photons and with the radio-frequency power spectra. These results provide insight into the physics of nanolasers as well as validating the use of the second-order autocorrelation as a sufficient tool for interpretation of the dynamics. This confirmation offers a solid basis for the reliance on autocorrelations in experiments studying the effects of feedback in nanodevices.