Continuous-wave squeezed states of light at the wavelength of 1550 nm have
recently been demonstrated, but so far the obtained factors of noise
suppression still lag behind today's best squeezing values demonstrated at 1064
nm. Here we report on the realization of a half-monolithic nonlinear resonator
based on periodically-poled potassium titanyl phosphate which enabled the
direct detection of up to 12.3 dB of squeezing at 5 MHz. Squeezing was observed
down to a frequency of 2 kHz which is well within the detection band of
gravitational wave interferometers. Our results suggest that a long-term stable
1550 nm squeezed light source can be realized with strong squeezing covering
the entire detection band of a 3rd generation gravitational-wave detector such
as the Einstein Telescope