Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Amplitude squeezed light generation in semiconductor diode lasers.

Michael J. Freeman

Published Jan 1, 1994• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

This dissertation describes a series of measurements that confirmed the existence of amplitude squeezing in a commercially available type of laser diode and makes the critical observation that the primary requirement to obtain squeezing, in addition to sub-Poissonian pumping, is the suppression of longitudinal side modes. Side-mode suppression was achieved using optical feedback from a grating in an external cavity configuration or by injection locking to a single-wavelength master laser. The external cavity setup allowed as much as 1.8 dB of amplitude squeezing to be generated with the laser diode operating at room temperature, and provided a means for tuning the output wavelength over a range in excess of 20 nm. The injection locking approach achieved more than 3.0 dB of squeezing at cryogenic temperatures and made it possible to maintain squeezing in the presence of drive-current modulation signals, facilitating potential applications in precision measurement systems and communications. By identifying some of the noise mechanisms which prevent the observation of amplitude squeezing and establishing that squeezing is a much more robust phenomenon than previous work had indicated, this research has shown that there may be important practical uses for these sources as diode laser technology evolves.

Related papers

Room-temperature wavelength-tunable amplitude-squeezed light from a quantum-well laser

MJ Freeman, H. Wang, Duncan G. Steel +2 more

The generation of light with amplitude-noise levels below the standard quantum limit (SQL) by constant-current operation of light-emitting and semiconductor laser diodes has been well established.1 Nearly all of this work, however, has been conducted with the light source cooled to cryogenic temperatures. At room temperature, the highest observed squeezing levels were 0.6 dB for light-emitting diodes and 0.2 dB for laser diodes.2 We presently report up to 1.8 dB of squeezing from a commercially available index-guided quantum-well laser (SDL-5410-C) operated at room temperature. Although cross-gain saturation can lead to amplitude squeezing of the total number of photons emitted by a multimode semiconductor laser in the limit of fast intraband scattering and the absence of wavelength-dependent loss,3 we found that it was necessary to suppress the >100 near-threshold longitudinal side modes of the laser to obtain squeezing at room temperature. This was accomplished either by using optical feedback from a grating in an external cavity configuration or by injection-locking the laser to a single-frequency laser. Both of these techniques allow the output wavelength of the laser to be named and thus the squeezing level as a function of wavelength to be studied.

•May 8, 1994•0 citations

Nonclassical amplitude-squeezed light generated by semiconductor quantum well lasers

Daniel C. Kilper, Michael J. Freeman, Duncan G. Steel +2 more

Amplitude-squeezed light has been generated by semiconductor quantum well lasers in numerous optical configurations, at both room and cryogenic temperatures. Various intensity noise sources associated with nonideal laser operation, in particular mode partition and polarization-dependent noise, can introduce intensity fluctuations that limit or remove amplitude squeezing. We discuss amplitude noise reduction in low-temperature free-running and injection-locking laser configurations and room-temperature injection locking and external-cavity laser configurations. Drive-current modulation with a nonclassical SNR improvement is achieved with an injection-locked laser.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Apr 26, 1995•3 citations

Quantum noise reduction in semiconductor lasers using dispersive optical feedback

John Edward Kitching

This thesis describes the phase and amplitude noise properties of semiconductor lasers subjected to weak, dispersive optical feedback. In the first half, experiments demonstrating reductions in the laser frequency noise power spectrum and spectral linewidth by several orders of magnitude are presented. Weak optical feedback is applied to the laser by an external cavity containing an atomic vapor. The presence of the vapor adds to the dispersion of the cavity and simultaneously locks the laser to a fixed frequency reference. The role of 1/f frequency noise in limiting the effectiveness of this linewidth reduction technique is investigated and 1/f noise is found to be the dominant contribution to the linewidth under strong optical feedback conditions. An electronic feedback scheme utilizing FM sideband locking is then implemented alongside the optical feedback, and an additional reduction in the low frequency 1/f frequency noise power spectrum by over two orders of magnitude is obtained. With both systems operating simultaneously, the spectral linewidth is narrowed from its free-running value of about 20 MHz to 1.4 kHz. Excellent absolute frequency stability is also achieved. In the second half, the effects of optical feedback on the quantum mechanical amplitude noise properties of the laser are examined. A fully quantum mechanical theory of amplitude and phase noise for a semiconductor laser with weak optical feedback is developed, and the nature and limits of the noise reduction using this technique are established. Particular attention is given to the feedback-induced enhancement of the amplitude squeezing which can be obtained in a pump-suppressed semiconductor laser: an improvement in the squeezing by 3 dB is predicted under moderate pumping. Somewhat larger noise reductions are expected when the laser is operating closer to threshold. Measurements performed on a laser biased close to threshold are then described and a reduction in the low frequency amplitude noise power spectrum by 7 dB is obtained. An experimental investigation of the effects of optical feedback on the amplitude squeezing in a semiconductor laser is then discussed. The low frequency squeezing in a room temperature device is increased from 3% below the standard quantum limit (SQL) under free-running conditions to 19% below the SQL with optimal feedback. The experimental results are found to agree poorly with the single-mode model and a multi-mode model including the effects of asymmetrical cross-mode non-linear gain is developed to explain the discrepancy. Finally, further experimental investigation into the generation of amplitude squeezed light is presented using a commercial laser with no intentional external modifications. Squeezing as large as 29% below the SQL is measured using a balanced homodyne detector with the laser operating near room temperature, corresponding to 41% below the SQL at the output facet of the laser.

•Jan 1, 1995•1 citation

Generation and applications of amplitude-squeezed states of light from semiconductor diode lasers

Yongqing Li, Min Xiao

We describe recent experiments on generation and applications of amplitude-squeezed states of light from a semiconductor diode laser. Amplitude-squeezed light with intensity noise 2 dB below the standard shot- noise limit was observed from a diode laser with a weak optical feedback from an external grating. Applications of this amplitude-squeezed light as a local oscillator in heterodyne detection in Doppler velocity measurement and weak light-scattering measurement are discussed.

Optics Express•Feb 2, 1998•18 citations

Generation of Tunable Amplitude-Squeezed Light by Injection Locking of a Laser Diode

Junmin Wang, Lingxiang He, Tiancai Zhang +2 more

Tunable amplitude squeezing around the D 2 line of cesium has been experimentally accomplished at room temperature in a quantum-well laser diode with light injection from a single-mode distributed Bragg-Reflector laser diode. While the master laser frequency is tuned, amplitude squeezing of the output light from the slave laser can be maintained at about 0.9 dB throughout a tunable range of ∼ 1.7 GHz around the cesium D 2 line.

Chinese Physics Letters•Jun 1, 2000•1 citation

Spectrally asymmetric mode correlation in amplitude-squeezed laser diodes

Christoph Becher, Klaus J. Boller

Summary form only given.Laser diodes with pump noise suppression are reliable sources for the generation of amplitude-squeezed light. Recently, it was shown that this amplitude squeezing is not always a single mode effect but can result from a cancellation among anticorrelated fluctuations between the main mode and competing side modes. To obtain more details on this correlation effect, we performed spectrally resolved intensity noise measurements with a pump noise suppressed SDL 5410-C (810 nm) diode laser in different configurations: free-running, injection-locked, and with an external Littrow grating feedback.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Nov 27, 2002•0 citations
This dissertation describes a series of measurements that confirmed the existence of amplitude squeezing in a commercially available type of laser diode and makes the critical observation that the primary requirement to obtain squeezing, in addition to sub-Poissonian pumping, is the suppression of longitudinal side modes. Side-mode suppression was achieved using optical feedback from a grating in an external cavity configuration or by injection locking to a single-wavelength master laser. The external cavity setup allowed as much as 1.8 dB of amplitude squeezing to be generated with the laser diode operating at room temperature, and provided a means for tuning the output wavelength over a range in excess of 20 nm. The injection locking approach achieved more than 3.0 dB of squeezing at cryogenic temperatures and made it possible to maintain squeezing in the presence of drive-current modulation signals, facilitating potential applications in precision measurement systems and communications. By identifying some of the noise mechanisms which prevent the observation of amplitude squeezing and establishing that squeezing is a much more robust phenomenon than previous work had indicated, this research has shown that there may be important practical uses for these sources as diode laser technology evolves.
The generation of light with amplitude-noise levels below the standard quantum limit (SQL) by constant-current operation of light-emitting and semiconductor laser diodes has been well established.1 Nearly all of this work, however, has been conducted with the light source cooled to cryogenic temperatures. At room temperature, the highest observed squeezing levels were 0.6 dB for light-emitting diodes and 0.2 dB for laser diodes.2 We presently report up to 1.8 dB of squeezing from a commercially available index-guided quantum-well laser (SDL-5410-C) operated at room temperature. Although cross-gain saturation can lead to amplitude squeezing of the total number of photons emitted by a multimode semiconductor laser in the limit of fast intraband scattering and the absence of wavelength-dependent loss,3 we found that it was necessary to suppress the >100 near-threshold longitudinal side modes of the laser to obtain squeezing at room temperature. This was accomplished either by using optical feedback from a grating in an external cavity configuration or by injection-locking the laser to a single-frequency laser. Both of these techniques allow the output wavelength of the laser to be named and thus the squeezing level as a function of wavelength to be studied.
Amplitude-squeezed light has been generated by semiconductor quantum well lasers in numerous optical configurations, at both room and cryogenic temperatures. Various intensity noise sources associated with nonideal laser operation, in particular mode partition and polarization-dependent noise, can introduce intensity fluctuations that limit or remove amplitude squeezing. We discuss amplitude noise reduction in low-temperature free-running and injection-locking laser configurations and room-temperature injection locking and external-cavity laser configurations. Drive-current modulation with a nonclassical SNR improvement is achieved with an injection-locked laser.
This thesis describes the phase and amplitude noise properties of semiconductor lasers subjected to weak, dispersive optical feedback. In the first half, experiments demonstrating reductions in the laser frequency noise power spectrum and spectral linewidth by several orders of magnitude are presented. Weak optical feedback is applied to the laser by an external cavity containing an atomic vapor. The presence of the vapor adds to the dispersion of the cavity and simultaneously locks the laser to a fixed frequency reference. The role of 1/f frequency noise in limiting the effectiveness of this linewidth reduction technique is investigated and 1/f noise is found to be the dominant contribution to the linewidth under strong optical feedback conditions. An electronic feedback scheme utilizing FM sideband locking is then implemented alongside the optical feedback, and an additional reduction in the low frequency 1/f frequency noise power spectrum by over two orders of magnitude is obtained. With both systems operating simultaneously, the spectral linewidth is narrowed from its free-running value of about 20 MHz to 1.4 kHz. Excellent absolute frequency stability is also achieved. In the second half, the effects of optical feedback on the quantum mechanical amplitude noise properties of the laser are examined. A fully quantum mechanical theory of amplitude and phase noise for a semiconductor laser with weak optical feedback is developed, and the nature and limits of the noise reduction using this technique are established. Particular attention is given to the feedback-induced enhancement of the amplitude squeezing which can be obtained in a pump-suppressed semiconductor laser: an improvement in the squeezing by 3 dB is predicted under moderate pumping. Somewhat larger noise reductions are expected when the laser is operating closer to threshold. Measurements performed on a laser biased close to threshold are then described and a reduction in the low frequency amplitude noise power spectrum by 7 dB is obtained. An experimental investigation of the effects of optical feedback on the amplitude squeezing in a semiconductor laser is then discussed. The low frequency squeezing in a room temperature device is increased from 3% below the standard quantum limit (SQL) under free-running conditions to 19% below the SQL with optimal feedback. The experimental results are found to agree poorly with the single-mode model and a multi-mode model including the effects of asymmetrical cross-mode non-linear gain is developed to explain the discrepancy. Finally, further experimental investigation into the generation of amplitude squeezed light is presented using a commercial laser with no intentional external modifications. Squeezing as large as 29% below the SQL is measured using a balanced homodyne detector with the laser operating near room temperature, corresponding to 41% below the SQL at the output facet of the laser.
Summary form only given.Laser diodes with pump noise suppression are reliable sources for the generation of amplitude-squeezed light. Recently, it was shown that this amplitude squeezing is not always a single mode effect but can result from a cancellation among anticorrelated fluctuations between the main mode and competing side modes. To obtain more details on this correlation effect, we performed spectrally resolved intensity noise measurements with a pump noise suppressed SDL 5410-C (810 nm) diode laser in different configurations: free-running, injection-locked, and with an external Littrow grating feedback.