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Optics Letters

Sub-shot-noise high-sensitivity spectroscopy with optical parametric oscillator twin beams

P. H. Souto Ribeiro, Catherine Schwob, Agnès Maître, Claude Fabre

Published Dec 15, 1997• 119 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Nondegenerate optical parametric oscillators generate above-threshold signal and idler beams that have intensity fluctuations correlated at the quantum level (twin beams). We describe what is to our knowledge the first high-sensitivity spectroscopy experiment using twin beams emitted by a cw optical parametric oscillator: a very weak two-photon absorption signal, in the 10(-7) range, is recorded on the 4S(1/2)-5S(1/2) transition of atomic potassium with a noise background that is reduced by 1.9 dB with respect to the shot-noise limit of the light used in the experiment.

DOI
10.1364/ol.22.001893

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Annual Meeting Optical Society of America•Jan 1, 1991•0 citations
Nondegenerate optical parametric oscillators generate above-threshold signal and idler beams that have intensity fluctuations correlated at the quantum level (twin beams). We describe what is to our knowledge the first high-sensitivity spectroscopy experiment using twin beams emitted by a cw optical parametric oscillator: a very weak two-photon absorption signal, in the 10(-7) range, is recorded on the 4S(1/2)-5S(1/2) transition of atomic potassium with a noise background that is reduced by 1.9 dB with respect to the shot-noise limit of the light used in the experiment.
The signal and idler beams from a non-degenerate, above threshold, optical parametric oscillator have a strong quantum correlation, which are called twin beams. This correlation arises from the simultaneous generation of the signal and idler photons in the form of twin pairs of photons through the parametric down conversion, and the generated twin beams have exactly the same photon statistics. As a result, the fluctuations on the difference between the intensities of the twin beams are reduced with respect to the shot noise limit, that is, intensity-difference squeezing. We give a comprehensive overview of the generation of twin beams using the optical parametric oscillator, and the applications exploiting the quantum correlation of twin beams are presented.
It has been recently shown theoretically1 and experimentally2 that nondegenerate optical parametric oscillators generate above threshold intense and highly correlated twin beams. More precisely, the noise on the difference between the intensities of the two beams is well below the shot noise for noise frequencies inside the cavity bandwidth. An application of this quantum correlation is to measure the intensity of one beam and use this information to correct the fluctuations of the other beam by optoelectronic means (photodiode, amplifier, and electrooptic modulator). The correction may be applied either on the pumping beam (feedback correction) or directly on the twin beam itself (feed-forward correction).
Measurement slight amounts of absorption of light with accuracy beyond the standard quantum limit has been experimentally demonstrated. The quantum-correlated twin beams used in the measurement were generated from a nondegenerate optical parametric oscillator including an alpha-cut KTiOPO(4) crystal pumped by an intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser. The noise in the intensity difference between the twin beams was reduced by 88% below the standard quantum limit (SQL). The signal-to-noise ratio was improved by 7 dB with respect to the SQL of the total light employed in the experiment and by 4 dB with respect to that of the signal light.
In recent years, several experiments have established the optical parametric oscillator (OPO) as a practical source of highly correlated twin beams. These beams have an intensity difference noise substantially below the associated shot noise, for noise frequencies within the OPO cavity bandwidth. They present the additional feature of being laserlike and intense, making them convenient for experimental applications. Refinements on our OPO characteristics and photodiode efficiencies have yielded a reduction of the noise power in the intensity difference of 86% below the shot noise level.1 A first use of twin beams is the production of a single light beam having an intensity squeezed noise. This can be achieved by monitoring the intensity of one beam with a photodiode and using this information to control the intensity fluctuations of the second beam with an electrooptic modulator.2 Other applications to high sensitivity spectroscopic measurements such as linear and nonlinear absorption or dispersion can now be considered for practical use.