Amplitude squeezing in a pump-noise-suppressed laser oscillator.

Abstract

This paper clarifies the origins of the standard quantum limit for the amplitude noise of a laser-oscillator outgoing field. The amplitude noise within the cavity bandwidth, \ensuremath{\Omega}\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\omega}/Q, is ultimately caused by the pump amplitude fluctuation, while that above the cavity bandwidth, \ensuremath{\Omega}\ensuremath{\ge}\ensuremath{\omega}/Q, is due to the field zero-point fluctuation. The uncertainty product of the amplitude- and phase-noise spectra at an extremely high pumping level is still larger than the Heisenberg minimum-uncertainty product because of the presence of nonstationary phase-diffusion noise. In this sense, an ordinary laser oscillator is not a quantum-limited device. This paper suggests that a laser oscillator can produce an amplitude-squeezed state in itself if the pump amplitude fluctuation is suppressed below the ordinary shot-noise level. The paper discusses possible schemes for suppressing pump fluctuation, commutator bracket preservation without pump fluctuation, and resulting amplitude and phase spectra. The similarity of and difference between a pump-noise-suppressed laser and a cavity degenerate parametric amplifier are delineated.