Non-linear and quantum optics of a type II OPO containing a birefringent element Part 1: Classical operation

We describe theoretically the main characteristics of the steady state regime of a type II Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO) containing a birefringent plate. In such a device the signal and idler waves are at the same time linearly coupled by the plate and nonlinearly coupled by the $\chi^{(2)}$ crystal. This mixed coupling allows, in some well-defined range of the control parameters, a frequency degenerate operation as well as phase locking between the signal and idler modes. We describe here a complete model taking into account all possible effects in the system, \emph{i.e.} arbitrary rotation of the waveplate, non perfect phase matching, ring and linear cavities. This model is able to explain the detailed features of the experiments performed with this system.Comment: To be published in EPJ

Quantum Monte Carlo study of ring-shaped polariton parametric luminescence in a semiconductor microcavity

We present a quantum Monte Carlo study of the quantum correlations in the parametric luminescence from semiconductor microcavities in the strong exciton-photon coupling regime. As already demonstrated in recent experiments, a ring-shaped emission is obtained by applying two identical pump beams with opposite in-plane wavevectors, providing symmetrical signal and idler beams with opposite in-plane wavevectors on the ring. We study the squeezing of the signal-idler difference noise across the parametric instability threshold, accounting for the radiative and non-radiative losses, multiple scattering and static disorder. We compare the results of the complete multimode Monte Carlo simulations with a simplified linearized quantum Langevin analytical model

Free evolution of an incoherent mixture of states: a quantum mechanical approach to the van Cittert-Zernike theorem

We study the time evolution of an incoherent mixture of quantum states and demonstrate, in very simple terms, a quantum mechanical equivalent of van Cittert–Zernike theorem, which can be easily explained to Quantum Physics students with a basic knowledge of the density matrix theory. Finally, we exemplify this result by applying it to the quantitative analysis of the coherence of a beam of particles in atomic collisions.Fil: Fabre, Ignacio. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Navarrete, Francisco Oscar. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sarkadi, L.. Hungarian Academy of Sciences; HungríaFil: Barrachina Tejada, Raul Oscar. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Non-linear and quantum optics of a type II OPO containing a birefringent element Part 2 : bright entangled beams generation

We describe theoretically the quantum properties of atype-II Optical Parametric Oscillator containing a birefringent plate which induces a linear coupling between the orthogonally polarized signal and idler beams and results in phase locking between these two beams. As in a classical OPO, the signal and idler waves show large quantum correlations which can be measured experimentally due to the phase locking between the two beams. We study the influence of the waveplate on the various criteria characterizing quantum correlations. We show in particular that the quantum correlations can be maximized by using optimized quadratures.Comment: to be published in Eur. Phys. J.

Continuous-wave phase-sensitive parametric image amplification

We study experimentally parametric amplification in the continuous regime using a transverse-degenerate type-II Optical Parametric Oscillator operated below threshold. We demonstrate that this device is able to amplify either in the phase insensitive or phase sensitive way first a single mode beam, then a multimode image. Furthermore the total intensities of the amplified image projected on the signal and idler polarizations are shown to be correlated at the quantum level.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Journal of Modern Optics, Special Issue on Quantum Imagin

Spatio-temporal development of the long and short-wave vortex-pair instabilities

International audienceWe consider the spatio-temporal development of the long-wave and short-wave instabilities in a pair of counter-rotating vortices in the presence of a uniform axial advection velocity. The stability properties depend upon the aspect ratio a/b of the vortex pair, where a is the core radius of the vortices and b their separation, and upon W0/U0 the ratio between the self-induced velocity of the pair and the axial advection velocity. For sufficiently small W0/U0, the instabilities are convective, but an increase of W0/U0 may lead to an absolute instability. Near the absolute instability threshold, spatial growth rates are larger than those predicted by temporal stability theory. Considering aeronautical applications, it is shown that instabilities of the type considered in this communication cannot become absolute in farfield wakes of high aspect ratio wings. © 2000 American Institute of Physics

A quantum study of multi-bit phase coding for optical storage

We propose a scheme which encodes information in both the longitudinal and spatial transverse phases of a continuous-wave optical beam. A split detector-based interferometric scheme is then introduced to optimally detect both encoded phase signals. In contrast to present-day optical storage devices, our phase coding scheme has an information storage capacity which scales with the power of the read-out optical beam. We analyse the maximum number of encoding possibilities at the shot noise limit. In addition, we show that using squeezed light, the shot noise limit can be overcome and the number of encoding possibilities increased. We discuss a possible application of our phase coding scheme for increasing the capacities of optical storage devices.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures (Please email author for a PDF file if the manuscript does not turn out properly

Entanglement measurement of the quadrature components without the homodyne detection in the spatially multi-mode far-field

We consider the measuring procedure that in principle allows to avoid the homodyne detection for the simultaneous selection of both quadrature components in the far-field. The scheme is based on the use of the coherent sources of the non-classical light. The possibilities of the procedure are illustrated on the basis of the use of pixellised sources, where the phase-locked sub-Poissonian lasers or the degenerate optical parametric oscillator generating above threshold are chosen as the pixels. The theory of the pixellised source of the spatio-temporal squeezed light is elaborated as a part of this investigation.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, RevTeX4. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Ultra-low threshold CW Triply Resonant OPO in the near infrared using Periodically Poled Lithium Niobate

We have operated a CW triply resonant OPO using a PPLN crystal pumped by a Nd:YAG laser at 1.06 micron and generating signal and idler modes in the 2-2.3 micron range. The OPO was operated stably in single mode operation over large periods of time with a pump threshold as low as 500 microwatts.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to JEOS