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Optics Letters

Unifying intensity noise and second-order coherence properties of amplified spontaneous emission sources

Martin Blazek, Sébastien Hartmann, Andreas Molitor, Wolfgang E. Elsaesser

Published Aug 29, 2011• 45 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present joint investigations of relative intensity noise (RIN) and second-order coherence properties of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) generated by a superluminescent diode. We introduce a generalized intensity noise description for ASE sources that contains the shot noise contribution but also accounts for first- and second-order coherence properties reflecting the process of light generation. We find excellent agreement between pump-current-dependent RIN values and this new description, with the perspective of particular interesting consequences for the realization of low-noise broadband emitters.

DOI
10.1364/ol.36.003455

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We present joint investigations of relative intensity noise (RIN) and second-order coherence properties of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) generated by a superluminescent diode. We introduce a generalized intensity noise description for ASE sources that contains the shot noise contribution but also accounts for first- and second-order coherence properties reflecting the process of light generation. We find excellent agreement between pump-current-dependent RIN values and this new description, with the perspective of particular interesting consequences for the realization of low-noise broadband emitters.
Properties of light sources based on amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) are similar to the properties of lasers in many regards. However, even though ASE has been widely studied, its photon statistics have not been settled. There are no reliable theoretical estimates or unambiguous experimental data for the second-order coherence function of photons that characterizes the coherence properties of a light source. Our computer simulation clearly establishes that, independently of pump power, the light produced by ASE is similar to that of a thermal source. This result lays bare the fundamental difference between ASE radiation and laser radiation.
Developments in quantum technologies lead to new applications that require radiation sources with specific photon statistics. A widely used Poissonian statistics are easily produced by lasers; however, some applications require super- or sub-Poissonian statistics. Statistical properties of a light source are characterized by the second-order coherence function g^(2)(0). This function distinguishes stimulated radiation of lasers with g^(2)(0)=1 from light of other sources. For example, g^(2)(0)=2 for black-body radiation, and g^(2)(0)=0 for single-photon emission. One of the applications requiring super-Poissonian statistics (g^(2)(0)>1) is ghost imaging with thermal light. Ghost imaging also requires light with a narrow linewidth and high intensity. Currently, rather expensive and inefficient light sources are used for this purpose. In the last year, a superluminescent diode based on amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) has been considered as a new light source for ghost imaging. Even though ASE has been widely studied, its photon statistics has not been settled - there are neither reliable theoretical estimates of the second-order coherence function nor unambiguous experimental data. Our computer simulation clearly establishes that coherence properties of light produced by ASE are similar to that of a thermal source with g^(2)(0)=2 independent of pump power. This result manifests the fundamental difference between ASE and laser radiation.
Summary form only given. Papers have evaluated the intensity noise at linear phase-insensitive optical amplifier output and identified it as amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). The contribution of input fluctuations and of the amplifier in output noise are not distinguishable, making impossible a description of squeezed-state amplification. Starting from a corpuscular approach of light and using Rice description of a coherent electromagnetic field, a new classical approach of intensity noise in amplifiers is proposed. It distinguishes the different sources of noise and evaluates their contribution in an intuitive but rigorous way. It also brings to the fore the effects of loss, intrinsic to the amplifier, in the intensity noise generation process. After reminding the corpuscular formalism of intensity noise and Rice representation of noise, the intensity noise at the output of linear, phase-insensitive optical amplifiers is deduced, followed by a reevaluation of the noise figure.
Introduction Most of the lightwave transmission systems operating today benefit fully from extensive deployment of optical amplifiers (OA). These components perform the amplification of optical intensity directly in the optical domain, without resorting to any electrical-domain regeneration. Optical amplifiers increase the average number of output photons per unit time by several orders of magnitude compared with the incoming signal intensity. However, as with every amplifying process, optical amplification cannot be achieved without paying back for the unavoidable noise power added to the signal intensity. As we will see in detail in Chapter 6, the optical amplification process comes with optical noise generated by spontaneous emission inside the active medium. The intensity of the optical signal is represented by the flux of the signal photon population. Conversely, the photons generated by the spontaneous emission process inside the optical cavity represent the noise photon population. The fundamental phenomenon supporting optical amplification is stimulated emission. The basic property of stimulated emission, making the great difference from spontaneous emission and enabling optical amplification, is the coherent nature of the photon generation process. Accordingly, both signal and noise photons go through the same multiplication process by means of stimulated emission. Unless the optical cavity where the stimulated emission takes place (the active cavity) presents selective features for enhancing the signal photon population relative to the spontaneous one, there is no way to avoid noise photons going through stimulated emission, filling most of the cavity population. As a consequence, both photon populations increase, leading respectively to amplified signal intensity and to amplified spontaneous emission intensity. It should be apparent that every noise photon can create a new identical noise photon as a result of stimulated emission, effectively increasing the noise intensity in the active optical cavity. This is the well-known mechanism of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise in optical amplification. Any improvement in the optical amplifier structure devoted to increasing stimulated over spontaneous emission will probably increase the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) at the cavity output. The spectrum of gain characteristic of the optical active medium is usually wide enough to support an efficient amplification of the broadband spontaneous emission spectrum, leading to the broadband ASE noise power spectral density.
We report on the properties and applications of intense and nonconventional stochastic photonic sources based on amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) [1]. First, we describe the principle of nonlinear intensity filtering using various nonlinear filters (e.g. a modified nonlinear Mach-Zehnder interferometer). The latter can alter the properties of an intense incident ASE source in a controlled manner. In particular, we demonstrated the possibility to tailor the probability density function (PDF)p(I)p(I)p(I)) (Fig. 1.a) as well as the second- and, in a more general sense, thennn-th order degree of coherenceg(n≥1)(τ)g^{(n \geq 1)}\left(\tau\right.)g(n≥1)(τ)) associated with the likelihood and the correlation of the intensity fluctuations, respectively. Depending on the type of filter and its parameters, the resulting random intensityI(t)I(t)I(t)can exhibit large overshoots or smoother fluctuations.