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Physical Review A

Statistical properties of light from optical parametric oscillators

Reeta Vyas, Surendra Singh

Published Dec 16, 2009• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Coherence properties of light beams generated by optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) are discussed in the region of threshold. Analytic expressions, that are valid throughout the threshold region, for experimentally measurable quantities such as the mean and variance of photon number fluctuations, squeezing of field quadratures, and photon counting distributions are derived. These expressions describe non-Gaussian fluctuations of light in the region of threshold and reproduce Gaussian fluctuations below and above threshold, thus providing a bridge between below and above threshold regimes of operation. They are used to study the transformation of fluctuation properties of light as the OPOs make a transition from below to above threshold. The results for the OPOs are compared to those for the single-mode and two-mode lasers and their similarities and differences are discussed.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.80.063836

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Coherence properties of light beams generated by optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) are discussed in the region of threshold. Analytic expressions, that are valid throughout the threshold region, for experimentally measurable quantities such as the mean and variance of photon number fluctuations, squeezing of field quadratures, and photon counting distributions are derived. These expressions describe non-Gaussian fluctuations of light in the region of threshold and reproduce Gaussian fluctuations below and above threshold, thus providing a bridge between below and above threshold regimes of operation. They are used to study the transformation of fluctuation properties of light as the OPOs make a transition from below to above threshold. The results for the OPOs are compared to those for the single-mode and two-mode lasers and their similarities and differences are discussed.
Most treatments of noise characteristics of optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) have been based on linearization of the equations of motion. This approach, valid far below and far above threshold, breaks down in the threshold region as it ignores the nonlinearity of interaction. We present a treatment that takes into account both the nonlinearity and the quantum mechanical nature of noise in these oscillators. Analytical expressions for the steady-state amplitude distribution functions are derived. Both the degenerate and the nondegenerate OPOs are considered. These steady-state distributions are used to study the coherence properties of the OPOs in the threshold region. These studies bridge the noise characteristics of the OPOs below and above threshold. Results are compared with classical oscillators and differences and similarities are discussed. Special attention is given to quantum mechanical features that survive even as the oscillator amplitude grows and reaches macroscopic proportions.
We discuss two- and three-fold photon statistics for the squeezed light generated by subthreshold degenerate (DPO) and nondegenerate (NDPO) parametric oscillators. In higher-order statistics details of coherence properties are more strongly reflected than in the single-fold statistics. Many experiments use two-fold statistics to extract spectral information about the incident beam. We use phase-space representation to express the operator field variables in terms of independent Gaussian random processes.1 Using the Gaussian property of these field variables and making a Karhunen-Loeve expansion in terms of orthogonal functions, analytical expressions for the two- and three-fold generating functions for the DPO and the NDPO are obtained. From this generating function various statistical quantities such as factorial moments and joint photon counting probability distributions are calculated.
Quantum states with non-Gaussian statistics generated by optical parametric oscillators (OPO) with fluctuating parameters are studied by means of the kurtosis excess of the external field quadratures. The field generated is viewed as the response of a nonlinear device to the fluctuations of pump laser amplitude and frequency, crystal temperature, and cavity detuning, in addition to quantum noise sources. The kurtosis excess has been evaluated perturbatively up to the third order in the strength of the crystal nonlinear coupling factor and the second order in the classical fluctuating parameters. Applied to the device described in Opt. Expr. 13, 948 (2005), the model has given values of the kurtosis excess in good agreement with the measured ones.
A Langevin model is introduced to study quantum fluctuations below the threshold of pattern formation for optical parametric oscillators (OPO's). In particular we compare analytical and numerical results for the OPO with one and two transverse spatial dimensions and in the presence of either plane or spherical cavity mirrors. The far-field structure and the correlation functions of the fluctuating signal field anticipate the onset of a transverse spatial pattern which arises classically even in the presence of Gaussian input beams. Correlation functions also reveal the squeezed nature of the OPO field. Numerical simulations of the Langevin model describe the result of short time measurements and show that close to threshold the near-field signal is a noisy spot pattern evolving on a time scale longer than the inverse decay rate of the resonator. This and other far-field features should be experimentally accessible.
We describe how a two-mode, above-threshold, optical parametric oscillator can generate nonclassical states of light with a large average number of photons: the fluctuation spectrum of the various fields is calculated, and several quantities are shown to have squeezed fluctuations. In particular, a perfect quantum noise suppression is predicted on the difference between the intensities of the two generated beams. We describe an experiment designed to demonstrate such an effect and show how it can be used to generate high-intensity amplitude-squeezed states.
SUMMARY Parametric processes in the interaction of electromagnetic field with a medium in an optical cavity are well known to produce states of light with nonclassical properties. The quantum correlations between these states can be employed for a realization of an EinsteinPodolsky-Rosen (EPR) paradox [l], in the original formulation using continuous variables, as proposed [2] and experimentally demonstrated [3] in the case of Nondegenerate Parametric Amplification below threshold. In this paper we study EPR-like behaviour between the signal and idler fields emitted by a degenerate optical parametric oscillator (OPO) above threshold; these fields, generated by conversion of a pump photon of frequency 2w0 in two photons of frequency w. , are spatially separated in the far field, showing non-local quantum correlations. The system is described by the full Hamiltonian for the operators associated with the pump and signal fields; the optical cavity introduces proper damping constants and corresponding vacuum field operators [4,5]. Above the threshold for the generation of the signal field, we consider the fluctuations in the intensity difference and in the phase sum of the signal beams, which are related to their degree of mutual correlation. By linearizing around the stationary state, we calculate the spectral variances of these quantities (i.e. the Fourier transform of the two time correlation functions). The Heisenberg uncertainty principle sets a lower limit to the product of the spectral variances for the fluctuations in the intensity and in the phase of each individual signal field; by using the idler beam to infer results of measurements on the correlated signal beam, we have an EPR paradox if the product of the spectral variances for the fluctuations in the intensity difference and phase sum of the fields, is below the uncertainty limit. This feature is apparent for a wide interval around zero frequency in the far field of the active OPO system, depending on the parameter space; in particular there is maximum correlation between signal beams, and therefore maximum breaking of the uncertainty limit, if the damping constant of the signal field is larger than that of the pump field.