Quantum correlations of pulses of optical parametric oscillator synchronously pumped above threshold

Abstract

The quantum analysis of radiation from a degenerate optical parametric oscillator synchronously pumped above its oscillation threshold is presented. It is shown that pulses of signal and pump fields at the output of the oscillator have the following properties: quantum fluctuations of the fields are independent in each individual pulse, but correlated in pulses of the pulse train with a temporal step multiple of the pulse period. The number of essentially correlated pulses is on the order of the oscillator cavity finesse. Cross-correlations between the pump and signal pulses are established above the oscillation threshold. These correlations lead to a significant quantum effect in the integral characteristics of the fields. A theoretical analysis revealed that the spectrum of field fluctuations measured using a balanced homodyne detection technique of phase quadratures of the fields with a pulsed local oscillator reveals quantum noise suppression in the vicinity of frequencies that are multiples of the pulse repetition rate.