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arXiv:2506.08521

Insightful Approach to Quantum Noise Suppression Below the Standard Quantum Limit Using a Single Mirror and Beam Splitter

Sun-Hyun Youn

Published Jun 10, 2025• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

When a coherent electromagnetic wave passes through a beam splitter (BS), it is divided equally into two parts. However, the quantum noise associated with the resulting coherent states, despite being reduced in amplitude by half, remains fundamentally constrained by the quantum noise limit, independent of the intensity. By placing a mirror at the unused input port of the BS, a standing wave is formed in the vicinity of the mirror, which influences the vacuum fluctuations of the coherent state at the BS output. Using semi-classical and quantum mechanical approaches, we calculate the vacuum fluctuations induced by the mirror and demonstrate that the vacuum noise originating from the mirror side periodically reaches zero at the BS output. Leveraging this effect, we show that the vacuum fluctuations of the light split by the BS can be readily reduced below the quantum noise limit. Furthermore, through feedback mechanisms, the vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field at the other output port can also be suppressed below the quantum noise limit. These findings provide a pivotal insight into the manipulation of electromagnetic noise, with broad implications for all experiments involving quantum noise control.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2506.08521

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When a coherent electromagnetic wave passes through a beam splitter (BS), it is divided equally into two parts. However, the quantum noise associated with the resulting coherent states, despite being reduced in amplitude by half, remains fundamentally constrained by the quantum noise limit, independent of the intensity. By placing a mirror at the unused input port of the BS, a standing wave is formed in the vicinity of the mirror, which influences the vacuum fluctuations of the coherent state at the BS output. Using semi-classical and quantum mechanical approaches, we calculate the vacuum fluctuations induced by the mirror and demonstrate that the vacuum noise originating from the mirror side periodically reaches zero at the BS output. Leveraging this effect, we show that the vacuum fluctuations of the light split by the BS can be readily reduced below the quantum noise limit. Furthermore, through feedback mechanisms, the vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field at the other output port can also be suppressed below the quantum noise limit. These findings provide a pivotal insight into the manipulation of electromagnetic noise, with broad implications for all experiments involving quantum noise control.
We analyze electric-field vacuum fluctuations in a beam-splitter system with one port terminated by a mirror. The aim is not to propose passive generation of a squeezed quantum state, but to clarify how Maxwell boundary conditions modify the spatial mode function on which vacuum-field operators act. The mirror-side vacuum contribution acquires a standing-wave structure, so its local electric-field variance is suppressed at electric-field nodes and enhanced at antinodes. Throughout this work, the reference quantum noise level (QNL) means the local variance contributed by an unconstrained traveling-wave vacuum mode having the same spectral, polarization, transverse-mode, and field-normalization conventions as the mirror-conditioned mode. A “sub-QNL” statement therefore refers only to a specified local, mode-resolved electric-field contribution, and not to the total noise of an arbitrary detector or to a globally squeezed freely propagating state. Using semiclassical and quantum-operator descriptions, we derive the position-dependent variance at the beam-splitter outputs and show that the effect is local and mode-selective, rather than a nonlinear transformation of the quantum state. For an ideal point detector and a perfect standing wave, the position-dependent standing-wave component is suppressed by 100% at a node relative to its antinode value, although the total measured variance retains spatially uniform contributions from the remaining modes. We provide explicit suppression and signal-to-noise expressions and discuss their degradation by finite visibility and spatial averaging. We also discuss the conditions required for observing this redistribution and its relation to feedback-based noise reduction and the standard quantum limit.
We have produced amplitude-squeezed light whose noise is reduced by ~10 dB below the quantum noise limit in four different feedback systems. In our experimental method we have directly compared the noise power spectrum of the laser diode with the quantum noise limit in the low-frequency region, where the classical noise is stronger than the quantum noise. In addition to the well-known methods for extracting the out-loop beams from the feedback system by use of a 50:50 beam splitter, a polarizing beam splitter, or the leakage light from the rear side of a laser diode, we also have tried to use the spatial coherence of the laser light. We also have examined the vacuum fluctuations that prohibited the out-loop beam from being amplitude squeezed. In all these systems we have verified that the noise power spectrum for the in-loop beam is reduced below the quantum noise limit but not that for the out-loop beam; the difference arises mainly because vacuum fluctuations enter each system differently.
We study multiphoton quantum-interference effects at a beam splitter and its connection to the prospect of attaining interferometric phase-shift measurements with noise levels below the standard quantum limit. Specifically, we consider the mixing of the most classical states of light coherent states with the most nonclassical states of light number states at a 50 : 50 beam splitter. Multiphoton quantum-interference effects from mixing photon-number states of small photon numbers with coherent states of arbitrary amplitudes are dramatic even at the level of a single photon. For input vacuum and coherent states, the joint photon-number distribution after the beam splitter is unimodal, a product of Poisson distributions for each of the output modes but with the input of a single photon, the original distribution is symmetrically bifurcated into a bimodal distribution. With a two-photon-number state mixed with a coherent state, a trimodal distribution is obtained, etc. The obtained distributions are shown to be structured so as to be conducive for approaching Heisenberg-limited sensitivities in photon-number parity-based interferometry. We show that mixing a coherent state with even a single photon results in a significant reduction in noise over that of the shot-noise limit. Finally, based on the results of mixing coherent light with single photons, we consider the mixing coherent light with the squeezed vacuum and the squeezed one-photon states and find the latter yields higher sensitivity in phase-shift measurements for the same squeeze parameter owing to the absence of the vacuum state.
We study the photon counting noise in optical interferometers used for gravitational wave detection. In order to reduce quantum noise a squeezed vacuum state is injected into the usually unused input port. Here, we specifically investigate the so-called “dark port case,” when the beam splitter is oriented close to 90° to the incoming laser beam, such that nearly all photons go to one output port of the interferometer, and only a small fraction of photons is seen in the other port (“dark port”). For this case it had been suggested that signal amplification is possible without concurrent noise amplification [R. Barak and Y. Ben-Aryeh, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 25 , 361 (2008)]. We show that by injection of a squeezed vacuum state into the second input port, counting noise is reduced for large values of the squeezing factor, however the signal is not amplified. Signal strength only depends on the intensity of the laser beam.
This research focuses on advanced noise suppression technologies for high-precision measurement systems, particularly addressing the limitations of classical noise reducing approaches. The noise level of laser sources is a crucial factor that directly affects the measurement sensitivity in applications such as gravitational wave detection and biomedical imaging. Classical feedback control technologies are effective but often encounter a bottleneck resulting from the classical noise suppression limits. To cope with these challenges, a novel method integrating quantum squeezed light with classical feedback control systems to reduce intensity noise is proposed in this work. By employing an amplitude-squeezed light field, a quantum-enhanced feedback control model is developed, thereby theoretically examining the influence of both the feedback loop gain and the degree of squeezing on the noise suppression performance. The results show that the injection of squeezed light significantly reduces the intensity noise, approaching the shot noise limit (SNL), thereby improving the system sensitivity beyond the classical noise reduction boundaries. Specifically, –10 dB squeezed state injection into the feedback system yields an additional noise suppression of approximately 8.97 dB, exceeding what is achievable using classical feedback alone. This demonstrates that the potential of the proposed method can enhance measurement precision close to the quantum noise limits without increasing the laser power. The analysis highlights the asymmetric noise suppression effects between the inner feedback loop and outer feedback loop. Although the outer loop benefits significantly from the squeezed light injection and achieves noise levels that are unattainable by classical feedback methods, the inner loop shows relatively minor improvements. This asymmetry is attributed to the inherent characteristics of quantum squeezing and the limitations of the feedback loop design. Further investigation into the individual noise components reveals that the primary contributors to the intensity noise include input noise, photodetector noise, and beam splitter-induced vacuum fluctuations. The injection of squeezed light effectively mitigates these vacuum fluctuations, which are typically a major noise source in high-precision laser systems. Theoretical research results show that the use of squeezed light in feedback control systems can effectively enhance noise suppression, equivalent to a nine fold increase in detected optical power, without the physical drawbacks of increasing laser power such as thermal noise. In conclusion, this study provides a theoretical validation of combining quantum squeezed states with classical feedback control to exceed classical noise suppression limits. The integration of a –10 dB squeezed state demonstrates a significant noise reduction, showing that this hybrid approach could revolutionize noise management in precision measurement applications. The results pave the way for further exploring quantum-enhanced control technologies in fields such as gravitational wave detection, quantum communication, and advanced optical sensing, providing a pathway for improving sensitivity and noise suppression without increasing additional power requirements.
We study the photon counting noise in optical interferometers used for gravitational wave detection. In order to reduce quantum noise, a squeezed vacuum is injected into the usually unused input port. It is investigated under which conditions the gravitational wave signal may be amplified without increasing counting noise concurrently. Such a possibility was suggested as a consequence of the entanglement of the two output ports of a beam splitter. We find that amplification without concurrent increase of noise is not possible for reasonable squeezing parameters. Photon distributions for various beam splitter angles and squeezing parameters are calculated.