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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Detection of weak optical signals without photocounts

Vladimir P Bykov

Published Sep 15, 2004• 0 citations

Abstract

Detection of light is one of the most fundamental physical processes playing a very important role in both nature and technology. In nature, this process underlies vision, thus providing an opportunity to perceive the world around us. Numerous photodetectors in technology allow the quantification of the detection of optical signals, expanding the spectrum of detected radiation. The problem of detecting optical signals by optical methods themselves was first formulated apparently by Bloembergen [1]. However, this idea has not been adequately developed. In paper [2] it was shown that the signal-to-noise ratio could be improved by using nonlinear radiation detectors in which the signal transformation begins from an absorption transition. It was shown in papers [3] that photocounts appear in conventional photodetectors due to the strong Coulomb instability of a weak electron current produced in the detector by a signal being detected. This suggests that in detectors, instead of free electrons, the electrons that are bound in atoms, ions, or molecules can be used, where they are well stabilized by a strong Coulomb field of nuclei. Below a possible scheme for detecting weak optical signals by laser means is described. At present microcavities are created which can be used in the Bloembergen scheme, providing the passage from spontaneous to stimulated effect, thereby substantially improving the scheme.

DOI: 10.1117/12.543928

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The physical nature of photocounts, i.e. current splashes in outer circuit of receiver at detection of weak optical signals is studied. It is shown, that the basic features of photocounts can be explained if to take into consideration the Coulomb instability of weak electronic flow, appearing in the detector under influence of accepted radiation. Many other particle mani- festations of electrons can be explained by this way. The laser scheme of detection of weak coherent radiation, essentially using laser radiation pumping, is offered. Thereat electrons, bound in atoms, ions or molecules, are used as an active element of device, but not free electrons, as it is usual. The stabilization of electrons by strong Coulomb field of the atom, ion or molecule nuclea does not allow to manifest their Coulomb instability. As a result photocounts, otherwise, Schottky noises are strongly put down at de- tection of weak signals. The detection of light is one of the most fundamental physical processes playing the important role as in nature, so in technique. For example, in na- ture this process provides a possibility of sight and, hence, to know the sur- rounding world. In technique the numerous photodetectors allow to make quantitative the process of detection of optical signals and to expand a spec- trum of accepted radiations.

The nature of photocounts arising in detectors exposed to highly coherent laser radiation is discussed. It is shown that the spatial localization of a photon allowed in quantum electrodynamics fails to account for the effect observed and that the Coulomb instability of a low electron flux in a photodetector can be the explanation. With detectors utilizing non-free electrons, namely, electrons bound in atoms, ions, molecules, etc., weak optical signals can be detected with laser radiation without photocounts, in other words, at a suppressed shot noise. A basic scheme for a laser detector using bound electrons is suggested.

Introduction We have already encountered situations in which light of one frequency falling on an atomic system gives rise to light of different frequencies (cf. Section 15.6). The atom may here be considered to play the role of a (noisy) nonlinear transducer for the incident field. Even stronger nonlinear effects arise when one is dealing with a large number of atoms, or a nonlinear medium . Under these circumstances it is sometimes permissible to ignore the atomic structure and to treat the medium as a continuum, as in Maxwell's electromagnetic theory. The subject of the interaction of the incident field with the nonlinear medium is usually known as nonlinear optics. The subject had its beginnings in an experiment in which a strong beam of red light (wavelength 6943 Å) from a ruby laser was allowed to fall on a quartz crystal, and a faint beam of blue light at a wavelength of 3472 Å, the first harmonic of the red, was produced (Franken, Hill, Peters and Weinreich, 1961). The development of the subject of nonlinear optics into a mature field is due largely to the work of Bloembergen and his collaborators. In the following we shall consider only a few simple illustrative examples of phenomena in nonlinear optics. More topics and more detail can be found in the books by Bloembergen and others (Bloembergen, 1965; Yariv, 1967, Chap. 21; Shen, 1984; Schubert and Wilhelmi, 1986; Butcher and Cotter, 1990; Boyd, 1992).

The ability to detect very weak optical fields with high efficiency (>99%) and to distinguish the number of photons in a given time interval is a very challenging technical problem with enormous potential payoffs in quantum communications and information processing. We propose to employ an atomic vapor as the active medium, prepared in a specific quantum state using laser radiation. The absorption of a photon will be aided by a dressing laser, and the presence or absence of an excited atom will be detected using the "cycling transition" approach perfected for ion traps. By incorporating an appropriate up-conversion scheme, our method can be applied to a wide variety of optical wavelengths.