Quantum Noise Characteristics of Nonlinear Optical Amplifiers |
| R.W. Boyda, G.S. Agarwalb, W.V. Davisa, A.L. Gaetac, E.M. Nagasakoa and M. Kauranend aThe Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA bSchool of Physics, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500 134, India cSchool of Applied Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA dUniversity of Leuven, Celestijnenlann 200 D, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium |
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| Quantum mechanical arguments show that any optical amplifier must add noise to the amplified beam of light. For the case of a high gain amplifier with a coherent (Poissonian) input, the signal-to-noise ratio of the amplified beam must be at least two times smaller than that of the incident beam. We review the theoretical basis of this prediction. We also describe the results of our experimental investigations of the noise properties of optical amplifiers that utilize the nonlinear optical response of strongly driven atomic transitions. |
| DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.86.117 PACS numbers: 42.50.Lc, 42.65.-k |