Squeezed states of light enable enhanced measurement precision by reducing noise below the standard quantum limit. A key application of squeezed light is nonlinear microscopy, where state-of-the-art performance is limited by photodamage and quantum-limited noise. Such microscopes require bright, pulsed light for optimal operation, yet generating and detecting bright pulsed squeezing at high levels remains challenging. In this work, we present an efficient technique to generate high levels of bright picosecond pulsed squeezed light using a
χ2 optical parametric amplification process in a waveguide. We measure
−3.2 dB of bright squeezing with optical power compatible with nonlinear microscopy, as well as
−3.6 dB of vacuum squeezing. Corrected for losses, these squeezing levels correspond to
−15.4−8.7+2.7 dB of squeezing generated in the waveguide. The measured level of bright amplitude pulsed squeezing is to our knowledge the highest reported to date, and will contribute to the broader adoption of quantum-enhanced nonlinear microscopy in biological studies.
Squeezed light has evolved into a powerful tool for quantum technology, ranging from quantum-enhanced sensing and quantum-state engineering based on partial postselection techniques.The pulsed generation of squeezed light is of particular interest, as it can provide accurate time stamps and a physically defined temporal mode, which are highly preferred in complex communication networks and large-scale information processing.However, the multimode feature of pulsed squeezing limits the purity of the output state, negatively impacting its application in quantum technology.Previous demonstrations and analysis of pulsed squeezing focus on single-pass configurations and synchronously pumped free-space cavities.In this paper, we propose a different approach to generate pulsed squeezing with high temporal purity, where a parametric down-conversion process in integrated photonic cavities is pumped by a single-pass pulse.We show that the effective mode number of the output pulsed squeezing approaches unity.Such a high-purity squeezed light can be realized with broad parameters and a low pump power, providing a robust approach to generating large-scale quantum resources.