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Physical Review A

Photon statistics of a single atom laser

Bobby D. Jones, Shohini Ghose, James Clemens, Perry R. Rice, Leno M. Pedrotti

Published Oct 1, 1999• 57 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We consider a laser model consisting of a single four-level or three-level atom, an optical cavity, and an incoherent pump. Results for photon statistics for varying pump levels are obtained using a quantum trajectory algorithm. In particular, we calculate the mean photon number, Fano factor (which is the variance over the mean). We examine that the behavior of the single-atom device as \ensuremath{\beta}, the fraction of spontaneous emission into the lasing mode, is varied. Typical values considered for \ensuremath{\beta} are $0.01<\ensuremath{\beta}<1.0.$ We find that for large enough \ensuremath{\beta}, lasing action, with properties similar to those predicted by semiclassical theories that factorize atom-field correlations and use a small-noise approximation, can occur. Squeezing can occur as \ensuremath{\beta} is increased. There is no evidence of a sharp phase transition from weakly excited thermal light to coherent light at a particular pump power. This is consistent with work on many-atom lasers with \ensuremath{\beta} values in the range considered here. As \ensuremath{\beta} is increased, the output goes from quasithermal light to coherent and finally to squeezed light, progressing into a fully quantum-mechanical regime. We also consider the effects of cavity damping and spontaneous emission rates on these results.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.60.3267

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arXiv:quant-ph/0203029•Physical Review A•Nov 26, 2002•6 citations
We consider a laser model consisting of a single four-level or three-level atom, an optical cavity, and an incoherent pump. Results for photon statistics for varying pump levels are obtained using a quantum trajectory algorithm. In particular, we calculate the mean photon number, Fano factor (which is the variance over the mean). We examine that the behavior of the single-atom device as \ensuremath{\beta}, the fraction of spontaneous emission into the lasing mode, is varied. Typical values considered for \ensuremath{\beta} are 0.01<\ensuremathβ<1.0.0.01<\ensuremath{\beta}<1.0.0.01<\ensuremathβ<1.0. We find that for large enough \ensuremath{\beta}, lasing action, with properties similar to those predicted by semiclassical theories that factorize atom-field correlations and use a small-noise approximation, can occur. Squeezing can occur as \ensuremath{\beta} is increased. There is no evidence of a sharp phase transition from weakly excited thermal light to coherent light at a particular pump power. This is consistent with work on many-atom lasers with \ensuremath{\beta} values in the range considered here. As \ensuremath{\beta} is increased, the output goes from quasithermal light to coherent and finally to squeezed light, progressing into a fully quantum-mechanical regime. We also consider the effects of cavity damping and spontaneous emission rates on these results.
A model of three-level laser, in which the pumping excites the atoms from the lower lasing level, is considered. The statistical properties of the field are calculated using full quantum treatment. It is shown that apart from threshold there is additional critical value of the pump rate, at which the laser field behaves in a phase-transition-like manner: the photon number drops down, the Fano factor has a strong peak, the relative photon number variance grows enormously, and the second-order coherence function jumps to 2, which is typical for thermal light.
The quantum statistical properties of the radiation of a one-atom two-level laser with incoherent pumping are analyzed. Solution of the Liouville equation for the density operator in the basis of Fock states shows that stationary radiation from a single-mode laser with incoherent pumping can be in a squeezed (sub-Poissonian) stationary state if the rate of spontaneous decay is lower than the rate of cavity losses and the pump rate. Inside the cavity the Fano factor reaches F =0.85 (15% squeezing). Multiple squeezing ( F =0.19) is possible in the transient lasing regime. Significant squeezing obtains at the cavity output; the spectral Fano factor at zero frequency is 0.36 under optimal conditions.
In this paper we have studied the statistical and squeezing properties of the cavity light generated by a three-level laser. In this quantum optical system, N three-level atoms available in an open cavity, coupled to a two-mode vacuum reservoir, are pumped to the top level by means of electron bombardment at constant rate. We have considered the case in which the three-level atoms and the cavity modes interact with the two-mode vacuum reservoir. We have carried out our analysis by putting the noise operators associated with the vacuum reservoir in normal order. Applying the solutions of the equations of evolution for the expectation values of the atomic operators and the quantum Langevin equations for the cavity mode operators, we have calculated the mean and variance of the photon number as well as the quadrature squeezing for the cavity light. In addition, we have shown that the presence of the spontaneous emission process leads to a decrease in the mean and variance of the photon number. We have observed that the two-mode cavity light is in a squeezed state and the squeezing occurs in the minus quadrature. The maximum quadrature squeezing of the light generated by the laser, operating far below threshold, is found to be 50% below the vacuum-state level. We have also established that the mean photon number in the presence of spontaneous emission is less than the absence of spontaneous emission.
In this paper we have studied the statistical and squeezing properties of the cavity light generated by a three-level laser. In this quantum optical system, N three-level atoms available in an open cavity, coupled to a two-mode vacuum reservoir, are pumped to the top level by means of electron bombardment at constant rate. We have considered the case in which the three-level atoms and the cavity modes interact with the two-mode vacuum reservoir. Applying the solutions of the equations of evolution for the expectation values of the atomic operators and the quantum Langevin equations for the cavity mode operators, we have calculated the mean and variance of the photon number as well as the quadrature squeezing for the cavity light. In addition, we have shown that the presence of the spontaneous emission process leads to a decrease in the mean and variance of the photon number. We have observed that the two-mode cavity light is in a squeezed state and the squeezing occurs in the minus quadrature. In addition, we have found that the effect of the vacuum reservoir noise is to increase the photon-number variance and to decrease the quadrature squeezing of the cavity light. However, the vacuum reservoir noise does not have any effect on the mean photon number. Moreover, the maximum quadrature squeezing of the light generated by the laser, operating far below threshold, is found to be 37.5% below the vacuum-state level. In addition, our result indicates that the quadrature squeezing is greater for γ=0 than that for γ=0.4 for 0.01 < ra < 0.35 and is smaller for γ=0 than that for γ=0.4 for 0.35 < ra < 1.
We calculate the output spectrum of a single-atom laser in a microcavity across a wide range of operating conditions. We considered both three-level and four-level atomic level structures. We used a numerical routine to calculate spectra that is more efficient than others used previously. We found that the linewidth of a single-atom laser generally scales as the inverse of the photon number and that there is no pump value at which an abrupt change occurs that might locate a lasing threshold. For a three-level gain atom we found vacuum–Rabi splitting similar to that found by Loffler et al. [Phys. Rev. A 55, 3923 (1997)] and used quantum trajectory theory to obtain a new interpretation of the results. For a four-level gain atom the vacuum–Rabi structure can appear at a small nonzero pump level and is maintained for large pumps, even when the intracavity photon number is larger than unity and the laser is on. We use the quantum trajectory approach to explain these results.
We consider three- and four-level atomic lasers that are either incoherently (unidirectionally) or coherently (bidirectionally) pumped, the single-mode cavity being resonant with the laser transition. The intracavity Fano factor and the photocurrent spectral density are evaluated on the basis of rate equations. According to that approach, fluctuations are caused by jumps in active and detecting atoms. The algebra is simple. Whenever a comparison is made, the expressions obtained coincide with the previous results. The conditions under which the output light exhibits sub-Poissonian statistics are considered in detail. Analytical results, based on linearization, are verified by comparison with Monte Carlo simulations. An essentially exhaustive investigation of sub-Poissonian light generation by three- and four-level lasers has been performed. Only special forms were reported earlier.