A quantum-statistical treatment of degenerate (single-mode) parametric amplification is given in which the pump is allowed to have time-dependent amplitude and phase. This relaxes earlier restrictions of a constant pump in exact resonance with the signal. Solutions are obtained for the case where the ratio of the time derivative of the pump phase to the coupling strength between pump and signal is constant. This includes the special case of simple offresonance, where the pump has a constant frequency differing from twice the signal frequency by a given amount (and has constant amplitude). The Wigner distribution for the signal mode is obtained (the
P distribution does not in general exist as a well-defined function beyond a finite time interval for this process) and is used to determine the time development of the expectation values of various field operators of interest, such as field strengths and fluctuations. A critical point exists in the solution for the photon annihilation operator such that the behavior of the solution and the resulting quantities which it determines is divided into an exponential region and an oscillatory region. The critical point defines, from the expectation value for the photon number, the condition for amplification. For the case of simple off-resonance, this gives the frequency range of amplification. A calculation without using the rotating-wave approximation is given in the Appendix which shows that, to first order, the same range is obtained as when the approximation is used. The effect of damping is given, showing, e.g., how it slows the growth rate of the signal (in the region of amplification) and how it narrows the frequency range of amplification. The effect of a time-dependent pump (and damping) on the breakdown of the
P distribution is also described.
The four-wave mixing (FWM) effect in a so-called left-handed material (LHM) with a third-order nonlinear response is studied. The theoretical models for the wavelength conversion (WC) and parametric amplification (PA) based on the FWM in the LHM are established when the signal falls in the frequency range of backward or forward wave. Analytical formulas for the WC efficiency and PA gain are derived. The influences of the pump powers, the phase mismatch, and the interaction length on the performances of the WC and PA are analyzed. The phase-match dependence of the performance is reduced by carefully controlling the pump powers.