Phase noise to amplitude noise conversion between statistically independent optical fields

Abstract

Pump-probe experiments are ubiquitous in atomic, molecular, and optical physics, where a strong pump field induces some change in a quantum system that is probed by a much weaker field. Often, high intensity of the pump field is at a premium with all other characteristics of the strong field subordinate. As a particular example, of relevance to atomic clocks and atomic magnetometers, a strong broad-linewidth laser optically pumps an atomic vapor, which is then probed by a much weaker narrow-linewidth laser. Though the broad-linewidth field suffers laser phase noise (PM) to amplitude noise (AM) conversion, the narrow-linewidth probe by itself produces a much quieter signal. Here, we consider the question of whether the noisy pump field maps its (PM-to-AM) absorption cross-section fluctuations onto the quiet probe field's transmission. Our results show that PM-to-AM noise does not transfer directly: atoms interacting with the pump field are instantaneously distinct from those interacting with the probe field. However, the broad-linewidth laser can influence the quiet field's transmission through the vapor due to optical pumping, resulting in fluctuations in the number density of atoms in the absorbing states. Nevertheless, there is a saving grace for this ``PM-to-AM induced optical pumping'' noise transfer: for very high noisy-field intensities (where optical pumping saturates) this type of noise on the probe field becomes negligible.