Europhysics Letters (EPL)

Quantum Noise Reduction in Raman Lasers

Helmut Ritsch, Monika A. M. Marte, P. Zoller

Published May 1, 1992• 72 citations

Abstract

We demonstrate that the intensity fluctuations of a laser with a Raman gain medium, described by a large number of independent 3-level atoms, can drop well below the shot noise level. In the limit of a good cavity, where one can adiabatically eliminate the atoms, we find an optimum Mandel Q parameter of Q ≈ −1/2 over a large range of parameters, when the laser is operated well above threshold. This leads to a strong suppression of the low-frequency quantum fluctuations in the laser output. In addition we find that due to suppression of spontaneous emission into the lasing mode, the spectral linewidth of the emitted light can be reduced below the Schawlow-Townes limit by more than one order of magnitude.

DOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/19/1/002

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