Speaker
Description
We introduce a novel computational method for simulating amplitude squeezing in an optical parametric amplifier (OPA), allowing us to include some of the quantum properties of the pump pulse. The theoretical treatment of squeezing in an OPA is usually performed by assuming that the pump pulse is classical and unchanging, with some methods including the effects of changing pump pulse amplitude. The quantum aspects of the pump are usually ignored. This is a good approximation for squeezed vacuum generation, since the quantum fluctuations of the pump do not couple to the squeezed vacuum state. Quantum fluctuations of the pump are important when there is a nonzero input signal to the OPA, as is the case for amplitude squeezing.
Our method models some of the quantum properties of the pump and signal by invoking the Gaussian approximation for both the signal and pump quantum states. We calculate the first and second moments of the quantum states using a pseudo-spectral evolution of the equations of motion. This allows us to study the 3D multimode properties of the bright squeezed states produced by an OPA, including the change in the amplitude of the pump pulse, and the quantum fluctuations of the pump pulse.
Second-harmonic generation (SHG) can produce a second-harmonic field that is itself squeezed. We study pulsed SHG and characterize the maximum amplitude squeezing that can be obtained in both the fundamental and second harmonic pulses. The fact that the second harmonic pulse is squeezed is relevant to amplitude squeezing, since most experimental implementations use SHG to produce the pump pulse that is used in the OPA. We further study the impacts of using a squeezed second-harmonic pulse on the amplitude squeezing performance. Both of these studies are made possible by the development of our novel computational method.
| Keyword-1 | Quantum Optics |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Nonlinear Optics |