Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

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

Instabilities in two-photon lasers

Daniel J. Gauthier, Hope M. Concannon

Published Dec 1, 1993• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The two-photon laser represents an entirely new class of quantum optical oscillator that promises to display a wealth of new and exciting nonlinear behavior. For example, the prediction that the turn-on behavior of the laser is indicative of a first-order phase transition was verified in recent studies of the first continuous-wave two-photon laser. In addition, it was found experimentally that the field generated by the laser displayed dynamical instabilities under some conditions. We briefly review the properties of two-photon lasers that are pertinent to its dynamical characteristics and show that many of the interesting properties can be understood from a simple rate-equation model. Also, we describe our efforts at Duke to address the origin of instabilities in two-photon lasers.

DOI
10.1117/12.164764

Related papers

Two-photon amplification and lasing in laser-driven potassium atoms: theoretical analysis

Alexander M. Kul'minskii, Daniel J. Gauthier, J.J. Fernande +2 more

Summary form only given. The two-photon laser is a new type of quantum oscillator based on the two-photon stimulated emission process. The laser is intrinsically nonlinear due to the nature of the stimulated emission and is thus expected to display novel nonlinear phenomena. While there has been continued interest in two-photon lasers since the original conception significant progress has been hampered by the difficulty in achieving two-photon lasing. In this contribution we summarize a model of the interaction between two intense fields and a collection of potassium atoms and use it to explain features of the recent two-photon experiments and to make predictions for future experiments.

Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference•Jun 25, 2003•1 citation

A new mechanism for continuous-wave two-photon amplification

William J. Brown, Olivier Pfister, Daniel J. Gauthier

Summary form only given.A less well understood regime of quantum optical systems is the case when they are far from equilibrium and highly nonlinear. One device that inherently operates in this regime is the two-photon laser that is based on the two-photon-stimulated emission process, whereby two photons stimulate the emission of four photons. Such lasers are predicted to have highly unusual nonlinear dynamic and quantum statistical behaviors. Recently, our group demonstrated large continuous-wave two-photon amplification in a laser-driven potassium vapor based on a multiphoton Raman scattering process. Subsequent studies have revealed that destructive interference between multiple quantum pathways significantly reduces the two-photon-stimulated emission rate for this process. To overcome this problem, we have devised a new mechanism for two-photon amplification that suppresses the quantum interference using electromagnetically induced transparency in conjunction with a novel geometry.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Nov 27, 2002•0 citations

EXPERIMENTAL REALIZATION OF A TWO-PHOTON RAMAN LASER

William J. Brown

This thesis describes the development of a novel quantum oscillator known as a two-photon Raman laser. It is based on two-photon stimulated emission in strongly driven potassium atoms. Two-photon lasers were Þrst proposed in the 1960s, but only recently have such devices been experimentally realized. The two-photon Raman laser is an important step forward as it provides the Þrst oppurtunity to study the turn-on behavior, instabilities, and noise properties of a pure two-photon optical device. The necessary ingredients for a two-photon laser are a medium displaying two-photon laser beam ampliÞcation and an optical resonator. In my two-photon Raman laser the ampliÞcation arises from a multi-photon process in which state-prepared potassium atoms undergo two-photon Raman transitions. This ampliÞcation process was studied using a high-density, small-Doppler-width potassium atomic beam that was driven by a strong pump laser and probed by a weak probe laser. I observed two-photon Raman ampliÞcation for a range of pump laser frequencies, atomic beam

•Nov 1, 1999•2 citations

Dressed-state two-photon laser

Daniel J. Gauthier, Qilin Wu, THOMAS W. MOSSBERG

Although the possibility of two-photon laser action1,2 was first discussed over 25 years ago, it has been realized only under a very limited set of circumstances3,4 and never under cw optical conditions. This is unfortunate because the two- photon laser has been predicted to display a number of interesting properties,5,6 such as bistable operation, novel threshold behavior, and in some cases squeezing. This situation is primarily a consequence of the presence of competing one-photon processes that occur in the previously considered two-photon gain media.

Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference•May 12, 1991•0 citations

Ultrafast second-order nonlinear photonics -- from classical physics to non-Gaussian quantum dynamics

Marc Jankowski, Ryotatsu Yanagimoto, Edwin Ng +4 more

Photonic integrated circuits with second-order ($χ^{(2)}$) nonlinearities are rapidly scaling to remarkably low powers. At this time, state-of-the-art devices achieve saturated nonlinear interactions with thousands of photons when driven by continuous-wave lasers, and further reductions in these energy requirements enabled by the use of ultrafast pulses may soon push nonlinear optics into the realm of single-photon nonlinearities. This tutorial reviews these recent developments in ultrafast nonlinear photonics, discusses design strategies for realizing few-photon nonlinear interactions, and presents a unified treatment of ultrafast quantum nonlinear optics using a framework that smoothly interpolates from classical behaviors to the few-photon scale. These emerging platforms for quantum optics fundamentally differ from typical realizations in cavity quantum electrodynamics due to the large number of coupled optical modes. Classically, multimode behaviors have been well studied in nonlinear optics, with famous examples including soliton formation and supercontinuum generation. In contrast, multimode quantum systems exhibit a far greater variety of behaviors, and yet closed-form solutions are even sparser than their classical counterparts. In developing a framework for ultrafast quantum optics, we will identify what behaviors carry over from classical to quantum devices, what intuition must be abandoned, and what new opportunities exist at the intersection of ultrafast and quantum nonlinear optics. While this article focuses on establishing connections between the classical and quantum behaviors of devices with $χ^{(2)}$ nonlinearities, the frameworks developed here are general and are readily extended to the description of dynamical processes based on third-order ($χ^{(3)}$) nonlinearities.

arXiv:2401.06265•Jan 11, 2024•0 citations

Ultrafast second-order nonlinear photonics—from classical physics to non-Gaussian quantum dynamics: a tutorial

Marc Jankowski, Ryotatsu Yanagimoto, Edwin Ng +4 more

Photonic integrated circuits with second-order ( χ (2) ) nonlinearities are rapidly scaling to remarkably low powers. At this time, state-of-the-art devices achieve saturated nonlinear interactions with thousands of photons when driven by continuous-wave lasers, and further reductions in these energy requirements enabled by the use of ultrafast pulses may soon push nonlinear optics into the realm of single-photon nonlinearities. This tutorial reviews these recent developments in ultrafast nonlinear photonics, discusses design strategies for realizing few-photon nonlinear interactions, and presents a unified treatment of ultrafast quantum nonlinear optics using a framework that smoothly interpolates from classical behaviors to the few-photon scale. These emerging platforms for quantum optics fundamentally differ from typical realizations in cavity quantum electrodynamics due to the large number of coupled optical modes. Classically, multimode behaviors have been well studied in nonlinear optics, with famous examples including soliton formation and supercontinuum generation. In contrast, multimode quantum systems exhibit a far greater variety of behaviors, and yet closed-form solutions are even sparser than their classical counterparts. In developing a framework for ultrafast quantum optics, we identify what behaviors carry over from classical to quantum devices, what intuition must be abandoned, and what new opportunities exist at the intersection of ultrafast and quantum nonlinear optics. Although this article focuses on establishing connections between the classical and quantum behaviors of devices with χ (2) nonlinearities, the frameworks developed here are general and are readily extended to the description of dynamical processes based on third-order χ (3) nonlinearities.

Advances in Optics and Photonics•Mar 4, 2024•29 citations
The two-photon laser represents an entirely new class of quantum optical oscillator that promises to display a wealth of new and exciting nonlinear behavior. For example, the prediction that the turn-on behavior of the laser is indicative of a first-order phase transition was verified in recent studies of the first continuous-wave two-photon laser. In addition, it was found experimentally that the field generated by the laser displayed dynamical instabilities under some conditions. We briefly review the properties of two-photon lasers that are pertinent to its dynamical characteristics and show that many of the interesting properties can be understood from a simple rate-equation model. Also, we describe our efforts at Duke to address the origin of instabilities in two-photon lasers.
Summary form only given. The two-photon laser is a new type of quantum oscillator based on the two-photon stimulated emission process. The laser is intrinsically nonlinear due to the nature of the stimulated emission and is thus expected to display novel nonlinear phenomena. While there has been continued interest in two-photon lasers since the original conception significant progress has been hampered by the difficulty in achieving two-photon lasing. In this contribution we summarize a model of the interaction between two intense fields and a collection of potassium atoms and use it to explain features of the recent two-photon experiments and to make predictions for future experiments.
Summary form only given.A less well understood regime of quantum optical systems is the case when they are far from equilibrium and highly nonlinear. One device that inherently operates in this regime is the two-photon laser that is based on the two-photon-stimulated emission process, whereby two photons stimulate the emission of four photons. Such lasers are predicted to have highly unusual nonlinear dynamic and quantum statistical behaviors. Recently, our group demonstrated large continuous-wave two-photon amplification in a laser-driven potassium vapor based on a multiphoton Raman scattering process. Subsequent studies have revealed that destructive interference between multiple quantum pathways significantly reduces the two-photon-stimulated emission rate for this process. To overcome this problem, we have devised a new mechanism for two-photon amplification that suppresses the quantum interference using electromagnetically induced transparency in conjunction with a novel geometry.
This thesis describes the development of a novel quantum oscillator known as a two-photon Raman laser. It is based on two-photon stimulated emission in strongly driven potassium atoms. Two-photon lasers were Þrst proposed in the 1960s, but only recently have such devices been experimentally realized. The two-photon Raman laser is an important step forward as it provides the Þrst oppurtunity to study the turn-on behavior, instabilities, and noise properties of a pure two-photon optical device. The necessary ingredients for a two-photon laser are a medium displaying two-photon laser beam ampliÞcation and an optical resonator. In my two-photon Raman laser the ampliÞcation arises from a multi-photon process in which state-prepared potassium atoms undergo two-photon Raman transitions. This ampliÞcation process was studied using a high-density, small-Doppler-width potassium atomic beam that was driven by a strong pump laser and probed by a weak probe laser. I observed two-photon Raman ampliÞcation for a range of pump laser frequencies, atomic beam
Although the possibility of two-photon laser action1,2 was first discussed over 25 years ago, it has been realized only under a very limited set of circumstances3,4 and never under cw optical conditions. This is unfortunate because the two- photon laser has been predicted to display a number of interesting properties,5,6 such as bistable operation, novel threshold behavior, and in some cases squeezing. This situation is primarily a consequence of the presence of competing one-photon processes that occur in the previously considered two-photon gain media.
Photonic integrated circuits with second-order (χ(2)χ^{(2)}χ(2)) nonlinearities are rapidly scaling to remarkably low powers. At this time, state-of-the-art devices achieve saturated nonlinear interactions with thousands of photons when driven by continuous-wave lasers, and further reductions in these energy requirements enabled by the use of ultrafast pulses may soon push nonlinear optics into the realm of single-photon nonlinearities. This tutorial reviews these recent developments in ultrafast nonlinear photonics, discusses design strategies for realizing few-photon nonlinear interactions, and presents a unified treatment of ultrafast quantum nonlinear optics using a framework that smoothly interpolates from classical behaviors to the few-photon scale. These emerging platforms for quantum optics fundamentally differ from typical realizations in cavity quantum electrodynamics due to the large number of coupled optical modes. Classically, multimode behaviors have been well studied in nonlinear optics, with famous examples including soliton formation and supercontinuum generation. In contrast, multimode quantum systems exhibit a far greater variety of behaviors, and yet closed-form solutions are even sparser than their classical counterparts. In developing a framework for ultrafast quantum optics, we will identify what behaviors carry over from classical to quantum devices, what intuition must be abandoned, and what new opportunities exist at the intersection of ultrafast and quantum nonlinear optics. While this article focuses on establishing connections between the classical and quantum behaviors of devices with χ(2)χ^{(2)}χ(2) nonlinearities, the frameworks developed here are general and are readily extended to the description of dynamical processes based on third-order (χ(3)χ^{(3)}χ(3)) nonlinearities.
Photonic integrated circuits with second-order ( χ (2) ) nonlinearities are rapidly scaling to remarkably low powers. At this time, state-of-the-art devices achieve saturated nonlinear interactions with thousands of photons when driven by continuous-wave lasers, and further reductions in these energy requirements enabled by the use of ultrafast pulses may soon push nonlinear optics into the realm of single-photon nonlinearities. This tutorial reviews these recent developments in ultrafast nonlinear photonics, discusses design strategies for realizing few-photon nonlinear interactions, and presents a unified treatment of ultrafast quantum nonlinear optics using a framework that smoothly interpolates from classical behaviors to the few-photon scale. These emerging platforms for quantum optics fundamentally differ from typical realizations in cavity quantum electrodynamics due to the large number of coupled optical modes. Classically, multimode behaviors have been well studied in nonlinear optics, with famous examples including soliton formation and supercontinuum generation. In contrast, multimode quantum systems exhibit a far greater variety of behaviors, and yet closed-form solutions are even sparser than their classical counterparts. In developing a framework for ultrafast quantum optics, we identify what behaviors carry over from classical to quantum devices, what intuition must be abandoned, and what new opportunities exist at the intersection of ultrafast and quantum nonlinear optics. Although this article focuses on establishing connections between the classical and quantum behaviors of devices with χ (2) nonlinearities, the frameworks developed here are general and are readily extended to the description of dynamical processes based on third-order χ (3) nonlinearities.