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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics

Controlling quantum fluctuations of macroscopic light with sharply nonlinear gain

Linh Nguyen, Jamison Sloan, Nicholas Rivera, Marin Soljacic A

Published Jan 1, 2022• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Here, we introduce a mechanism of “sharp nonlinear gain” that strongly suppresses quantum fluctuations of lasers. This effect can lead to orders-of-magnitude suppression of intensity fluctuations in real lasers, as well as macroscopic sub-Poissonian light.
DOI
10.1364/cleo_si.2022.sm2o.6

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Macroscopic non-Gaussian states of light are among the most highly-coveted holy grails in quantum science and technology. An important example is that of macroscopic number (Fock) states of light. Due to their exactly defined number of photons, they are of great interest in quantum metrology, spectroscopy, simulation, and information processing. However, the deterministic creation and stabilization of even approximate large-number Fock states remains thus far a long-standing open problem. Here, we introduce a mechanism that deterministically generates macroscopic sub-Poissonian states, including Fock states, at optical and infrared frequencies. The method takes advantage of the fact that a photon with a sharply increasing nonlinear loss will have its intensity noise condense as it decays. We reveal regimes where this phenomenon can lead to transient generation of Fock and sub-Poissonian states. We further show that these low noise states can be preserved in steady-state by building a laser with a sharp loss element, stabilizing the state with an equilibrium between gain and loss. We show two examples of these phenomena: one which produces a near-Fock state with 5,000 photons (with an uncertainty of 1 photon), and one which generates a macroscopic sub-Poissonian state with over a trillion photons, yet noise 99% below that of a coherent state of the same size. When realized, our results may enable many of the previously envisaged applications of number states and sub-Poissonian states for quantum algorithms, simulation, metrology, and spectroscopy. More generally, our results provide a new and general type of nonlinearity which could form the basis for many new optoelectronic devices which emit macroscopic non-Gaussian light.
The author reviews methods for generating sub-Poissonian light and related concepts. This light has energy fluctuations reduced below the level which corresponds to a classical Poissonian process (shot-noise level). After an introduction to the concept of nonclassical light, an overview is given of the main methods of quantum-noise reduction. Sub-Poissonian processes are exemplified in different areas of optics, ranging from single-atom resonance fluorescence to nonlinear optics, laser physics, and cavity quantum electrodynamics. Emphasis is placed on the conceptual foundations, and on developments in laser theory that lead to the possibility, already demonstrated experimentally, of linewidth narrowing and sub-Poissonian light generation in lasers and masers. The sources of quantum noise in these devices are analyzed, and four noise-suppression methods are discussed in detail: regularization of the pumping, suppression of spontaneous-emission noise, nonadiabatic evolution of the atomic variables, and twin-beam generation.