Development of narrow linewidth, micro-integrated extended cavity diode lasers for quantum optics experiments in space

We present a micro-integrated extended cavity diode laser module for experiments on rubidium Bose–Einstein condensates and atom interferometry at 780.24 nm onboard a sounding rocket. The micro-integration concept is optimized for space application. The laser chip, micro-lenses, a volume holographic Bragg grating, micro-temperature sensors and a micro-thermoelectric cooler are integrated on an aluminium nitride ceramic micro-optical bench with a foot print of only 50 × 10 mm². Moveable parts are omitted to allow for a very compact and robust design. The laser module provides an output power of more than 120 mW at a short term (170 μs) linewidth of 54 kHz, both full-width-at-half-maximum. The laser can be coarsely tuned by 44 GHz with a continuous tuning range of 31 GHz. The micro-integration technology presented here can be transferred to other wavelengths.     

Advanced interferometry,quantum optics and optomechanics in gravitational wave detectors

Currently operating laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors are limited by quantum noise above a few hundred Hertz. Detectors that will come on line in the next decade are predicted to be limited by quantum noise over their entire useful frequency band (from 10 Hz to 10 kHz). Further sensitivity improvements will, therefore, rely on using quantum optical techniques such as squeezed state injection and quantum non‐demolition, which will, in turn, drive these massive mechanical systems into quantum states. This article reviews the principles behind these optical and quantum optical techniques and progress toward there realization.     

Biphotons,squeezing, and new states of light in polarization quantum optics

The concept of squeezing is discussed for multimode quantum light beams with consideration of polarization using the polarization gaugeSU (2) invariance of free electromagnetic fields. We separate the polarization and biphoton degrees of freedom from other ones, and consider uncertainty relations characterizing polarization and biphoton observables. As a consequence, we obtain a new classification of polarization states of light within quantum optics. We also discuss briefly some interrelations of our analysis with experiments related to some fundamental problems of physics.     

Generalized Ginzburg-Landau equations for phase transition-like phenomena in lasers,nonlinear optics,hydrodynamics and chemical reactions

The recently found close analogies between the continuous mode laser, the Bénard instability, and chemical instabilities with respect to their phase transition-like behaviour are shown to have a common root. We start from equations of motion containing fluctuations. We first assume external parameters permitting only stable solutions and linearize the equations, which define a set of modes. When the external parameters are changed the modes getting unstable are taken as order parameters. Since their relaxation time tends to infinity the damped modes can be eliminated adiabatically leaving us with a set of nonlinear coupled order parameter equations resembling the time dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations with fluctuating forces. In two and three dimensions additional terms occur which allow for e.g. hexagonal spatial structures. We also treat the hard mode instability and obtain the stationary distribution function as solution of the Fokker-Planck equation. Our procedure has immediate applications to the Taylor instability, to various chemical reaction models, to the parametric oscillator in nonlinear optics and to some biological models. Furthermore, it allows us to treat analytically the onset of laser pulses, higher instabilities in the Bénard and Taylor problems and chemical oscillations including fluctuations.     

Use of the poincare sphere in polarization optics and classical and quantum mechanics. Review

The method of the Poincaré sphere, which was proposed by Henri Poincaré in 1891–1892, is a convenient approach to represent polarized light. This method is graphical: each point on the sphere corresponds to a certain polarization state. Apart from the obvious representation of polarized light, the method of the Poincaré sphere permits efficient solution of problems that result from the use of a set of phase plates or a combination of phase plates and ideally homogeneous polarizers. Recently, to calculate the geometric phase (which is often called the Berry phase) in polarization optics and quantum and classical mechanics, the method of the Poincaré sphere has drawn much attention, since it allows us to carry out these calculations very efficiently and intuitively using the solid angle resting, on a closed curve on the Poincaré sphere that corresponds to the change in the state of light polarization or in the state of spin of an elementary particle or its orientation in space from the viewpoint of systems in classical mechanics. The review considers papers on the above problems. Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 265–307, March. 1997.     

Simulation of output power and optical gain characteristics of self-assembled quantum-dot lasers: Effects of homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening,quantum dot coverage and phonon bottleneck

The effects of temperature (homogeneous broadening (HB)) on output power, gain spectrum, and light–current (L–I) characteristics of self-assembled quantum-dot lasers (SAQDLs) are investigated. We also analyze the effects of inhomogeneous broadening (IHB) and QD coverage on L–I characteristics and the effects of carrier relaxation and recombination lifetimes on L–I and optical gain–current characteristics. We propose the possibility of single mode lasing for every HB that is comparable, near, or equal to IHB and for every lasing injected current. We also show that peak optical gain does not change with variations of temperature (HB) and injected current. Simulation of L–I characteristics shows that L–I curves become nonlinear as HB elevates up to near IHB. Exceeding HB from IHB and elevating IHB result in degradation of L–I characteristics. Threshold current grows as temperature (HB) enhances. It is, therefore, concluded that the SAQDL has the best L–I characteristics when HB is equal to IHB. It is also shown that there is a threshold and an optimum QD coverage. We reveal that the phonon bottleneck degrades L–I characteristics and that the maximum output power decreases significantly with enhancement of IHB. Finally, we show that the phonon bottleneck, low wetting layer and QD crystal quality reduce the differential gain, relaxation oscillation frequency and modulation bandwidth.