A Compact Source for Quantum Image Processing with Four-wave Mixing in Rubidium-85

We have built a compact light source for bright squeezed twin-beams at 795\,nm based on four-wave-mixing in atomic $^{85}$Rb vapor. With a total optical power of 400\,mW derived from a free running diode laser and a tapered amplifier to pump the four-wave-mixing process, we achieve 2.1\,dB intensity difference squeezing of the twin beams below the standard quantum limit, without accounting for losses. Squeezed twin beams generated by the type of source presented here could be used as reference for the precise calibration of photodetectors. Transferring the quantum correlations from the light to atoms in order to generate correlated atom beams is another interesting prospect. In this work we investigate the dispersion that is generated by the employed four-wave-mixing process with respect to bandwidth and dependence on probe detuning. We are currently using this squeezed light source to test the transfer of spatial information and quantum correlations through media of anomalous dispersion.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Generation of pulsed bipartite entanglement using four-wave mixing

Using four-wave mixing in a hot atomic vapor, we generate a pair of entangled twin beams in the microsecond pulsed regime near the D1 line of $^{85}$Rb, making it compatible with commonly used quantum memory techniques. The beams are generated in the bright and vacuum-squeezed regimes, requiring two separate methods of analysis, without and with local oscillators, respectively. We report a noise reduction of up to $3.8\pm 0.2$ dB below the standard quantum limit in the pulsed regime and a level of entanglement that violates an Einstein--Podolsky--Rosen inequality.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in New Journal Of Physici

Squeezed Light and Entangled Images from Four-Wave-Mixing in Hot Rubidium Vapor

Entangled multi-spatial-mode fields have interesting applications in quantum information, such as parallel quantum information protocols, quantum computing, and quantum imaging. We study the use of a nondegenerate four-wave mixing process in rubidium vapor at 795 nm to demonstrate generation of quantum-entangled images. Owing to the lack of an optical resonator cavity, the four-wave mixing scheme generates inherently multi-spatial-mode output fields. We have verified the presence of entanglement between the multi-mode beams by analyzing the amplitude difference and the phase sum noise using a dual homodyne detection scheme, measuring more than 4 dB of squeezing in both cases. This paper will discuss the quantum properties of amplifiers based on four-wave-mixing, along with the multi mode properties of such devices.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures. SPIE Optics and Photonics 2008 proceeding (San Diego, CA

Spinor dynamics in an antiferromagnetic spin-1 thermal Bose gas

We present experimental observations of coherent spin-population oscillations in a cold thermal, Bose gas of spin-1 sodium-23 atoms. The population oscillations in a multi-spatial-mode thermal gas have the same behavior as those observed in a single-spatial-mode antiferromagnetic spinor Bose Einstein condensate. We demonstrate this by showing that the two situations are described by the same dynamical equations, with a factor of two change in the spin-dependent interaction coefficient, which results from the change to particles with distinguishable momentum states in the thermal gas. We compare this theory to the measured spin population evolution after times up to a few hundreds of ms, finding quantitative agreement with the amplitude and period. We also measure the damping time of the oscillations as a function of magnetic field.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure