A quantum spectrum analyser

S. K. Morshnev, Nikolay I. Starostin, Ya V Przhiyalkovsky +1 more

Abstract Interference of wave trains separated out in an inhomogeneous emission spectrum of a superluminescent erbium-doped fibre source has been studied by scanning the wavelength of a spectrum analyser. The results demonstrate that, as the spectral resolution of the spectrum analyser decreases to a level corresponding to a sharp drop in interference fringe visibility relative to its original level, near 100 %, fringe visibility becomes dependent on the wavelength in the inhomogeneous spectrum of the source. The reason for this is that, at some characteristic resolution δλ (δλ > 0.5 nm in our case), the coherence time of wave trains is not limited by the spectral resolution of the spectrum analyser and is related to the inhomogeneous spectrum of the source, whose limiting width can be thought of as the homogeneous linewidth in the spectrum of the source. This feature can be used for evaluating homogeneous line broadening.

Ryan O’Donnell, John Wright

Vadim Vladimirovich Davydov, Ермак Сергей Викторович

Martti Havukainen, Stig Stenholm

A new method to calculate the spectrum using cascaded open systems and a master equation is presented. The method uses two-state analyser atoms which are coupled to the system of interest, whose spectrum of radiation is read from the excitation of these analyser atoms. The ordinary definitions of a spectrum uses two-time averages and Fourier transforms. The present method uses only one-time averages. The method can be used to calculate time-dependent as well as stationary spectra.

Martti Havukainen, Stig Stenholm

A new method to calculate the spectrum using cascaded open systems and a master equation is presented. The method uses two-state analyser atoms which are coupled to the system of interest, whose spectrum of radiation is read from the excitation of these analyser atoms. The ordinary definitions of a spectrum uses two-time averages and Fourier transforms. The present method uses only one-time averages. The method can be used to calculate time-dependent as well as stationary spectra.

Mario Mastriani