Quantum noise and amplitude noise in lasers

Harald Gerhardt, H. Welling, A. Güttner

J. P. Woerdman, Martin P. van Exter, N. J. van Druten

Y. Yamamoto, S. Machida, OLLE NILSSON

This paper clarifies the origins of the standard quantum limit for the amplitude noise of a laser-oscillator outgoing field. The amplitude noise within the cavity bandwidth, \ensuremath{\Omega}\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\omega}/Q, is ultimately caused by the pump amplitude fluctuation, while that above the cavity bandwidth, \ensuremath{\Omega}\ensuremath{\ge}\ensuremath{\omega}/Q, is due to the field zero-point fluctuation. The uncertainty product of the amplitude- and phase-noise spectra at an extremely high pumping level is still larger than the Heisenberg minimum-uncertainty product because of the presence of nonstationary phase-diffusion noise. In this sense, an ordinary laser oscillator is not a quantum-limited device. This paper suggests that a laser oscillator can produce an amplitude-squeezed state in itself if the pump amplitude fluctuation is suppressed below the ordinary shot-noise level. The paper discusses possible schemes for suppressing pump fluctuation, commutator bracket preservation without pump fluctuation, and resulting amplitude and phase spectra. The similarity of and difference between a pump-noise-suppressed laser and a cavity degenerate parametric amplifier are delineated.

Wolfgang P. Schleich, Marlan O. Scully, H.-G. von Garßen

An analytical steady-state distribution for the phase difference \ensuremath{\psi} in a correlated spontaneous-emission laser (CEL) is derived based on the amplitude and phase equations of a CEL. This distribution is shown to be an excellent approximation to that obtained from a numerical simulation of the complete set of CEL equations. In particular, the effects of amplitude noise on CEL operation are considered and it is shown that fluctuations in the relative amplitude are also noise quenched.

J. P. Woerdman, Martijn A. van Eijkelenborg, Annelie Lindberg

Elanor H. Huntington, C. C. Harb, M. Heurs +1 more

A quantum mechanical model is formulated to describe the coupling between pump intensity noise and laser frequency noise in a solid-state laser. The model allows us to investigate the limiting effects of closed-loop stabilization schemes that utilize this coupling. Two schemes are considered: active control of the quadrature phase noise of the laser and active control of the amplitude noise of the laser. We show that the noise of the laser in the actively stabilized quadrature is ultimately limited by the vacuum noise introduced by the feedback beamsplitter in both schemes. In the case of active control of the quadrature phase noise, the noise is also limited by the intensity noise floor of the detection scheme. We also show that some sources of noise in the passively stabilized quadrature can be suppressed and that it is possible to achieve simultaneous quadrature amplitude and phase stabilization of a solid-state laser. However, the quantum mechanically driven noise in the passively stabilized quadrature cannot be suppressed. While this poses the ultimate limit to the noise in the passively stabilized quadrature, we show that it is experimentally feasible to observe squeezing directly generated by a solid-state laser using this technique.