H.-A. Bachor

Fringe-pattern analysis using a 2-D Fourier transform

A refinement of the Fourier transform fringe-pattern analysis technique which uses a 2-D Fourier transform is described. The 2-D transform permits better separation of the desired information components from unwanted components than a 1-D transform. The accuracy of the technique when applied to real data recorded by a system with a nonlinear response function is investigated. This leads to simple techniques for optimizing an interferogram for analysis by these Fourier transform methods and to an estimate of the error in the retrieved fringe shifts. This estimate is tested on simulated data and found to be reliable.

An experimental investigation of criteria for continuous variable entanglement

Motivated by previous observations on the characterization of entangled optical beams, this paper presents a characterization of entanglement not only in terms of inseparability, but also by its mixedness. The entanglement is presented on a diagram of the average sideband photon number required to generate the entanglement (a property synonymous to inseparability) versus the average number of excess sideband photons, as deduced from the measured values of the quadrature variances. The efficacy contours of some common quantum information protocols are also displayed.

Suppression of the intensity noise in a diode-pumped neodymium:YAG nonplanar ring laser

We investigate the intensity noise properties of a continuous-wave diode pumped Nd:YAG ring-laser system and present results for an active feedback loop that suppresses the relaxation oscillation noise. This system reduces the intensity noise to within 6.1 dB of the quantum noise equivalent level (which is at 1.5/spl times/10/sup -8///spl radic/Hz for 1.5 mA) for frequencies between 10 kHz to 300 kHz and to less than 1/spl times/10/sup -7///spl radic/Hz for frequencies between 300 Hz and 10 kHz. The technical properties of the optimized feedback system are presented. The theoretical limits of performance for the system are discussed and it is shown that the performance is within 3.1 dB of these limits. We also present data from an optical beat experiment demonstrating that the intensity control system does not introduce any new features into the frequency noise spectrum. >

Optimization and transfer of vacuum squeezing from an optical parametric oscillator

We report the observation of more than 7 dB of vacuum squeezing from a below-threshold optical parametric oscillator (OPO). We discuss design criteria and experimental considerations for its optimization and demonstrate that the vacuum squeezing can be electro-optically transferred to a bright beam using a feed-forward loop. This is compared with the bright intensity squeezed beam generated by running the OPO as a de-amplifier.

Multipartite Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering and genuine tripartite entanglement with optical networks

This research was conducted by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology (project number CE110001029) and has been supported by the Australian Research Council DECRA and Discovery Project Grants schemes. S.A. is grateful for funding from the Australia–Asia Prime Minister‘s Award. R.Y.T. thanks Swinburne University for a Research SUPRA Award, and Q.H. thanks National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 11121091 and 11274025. This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant No. PHYS-1066293 and the hospitality of the Aspen Center for Physics.

Squeezed light for bandwidth-limited atom optics experiments at the rubidium D1 line

We report on the generation of more than 5 dB of vacuum squeezed light at the rubidium D1 line (795 nm) using periodically poled KTiOPO4 (PPKTP) in an optical parametric oscillator. We demonstrate squeezing at low sideband frequencies, making this source of non-classical light compatible with bandwidth-limited atom optics experiments. When PPKTP is operated as a parametric amplifier, we show a noise reduction of 4 dB stably locked within the 150 kHz–500 kHz frequency range. This matches the bandwidth of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in rubidium hot vapour cells under the condition of large information delay.

CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM SIGNATURES OF COMPETING CHI (2) NONLINEARITIES

We report the observation of the quantum effects of competing chi((2)) nonlinearities. We also report classical signatures of competition, namely, clamping of the second-harmonic power and production of nondegenerate frequencies in the visible. Theory is presented that describes the observations as resulting from competition between various chi((2)) up-conversion and down-conversion processes. We show that competition imposes hitherto unsuspected limits to both power generation and squeezing. The observed signatures are expected to be significant effects in practical systems.

Squeezed light from second-harmonic generation: experiment versus theory

We report excellent quantitative agreement between theoretical predictions and experimental observation of squeezing from a singly resonant second-harmonic-generating crystal. Limitations in the noise suppression imposed by the pump laser are explicitly modeled and confirmed by our measurements.

Optogalvanic detection as a quantitative method in spectroscopy

Abstract The use of the optogalvanic effect for measuring spectroscopic quantities such as wavelengths, line profiles and line integrals is discussed. The quantitative aspects of absorption and optogalvanic spectroscopy are compared. It is experimentally demonstrated for calcium that optogalvanic line integral measurements are not simply linearly related to the oscillator strength. Measured optogalvanic and absorption profiles for Ne, Ar and Cu are compared and it is shown that both methods yield the same result for certain conditions of the observed plasma. The dependence of the optogalvanic profiles on the current in the plasma is demonstrated.

Quantum noise: a limit in photodetection

This paper attempts to outline the fundamental limits of the photoelectric measurement process, to give a simple picture of how their consequences can be estimated and to describe recent ideas and experimental work on how to use the current understanding of photodetection to make measurements previously thought to be beyond the quantum limit.