Experimental study on the imaging of the squeezed state light at 1064 nm

Stable, low noise, infrared squeezed state tight at 1064 nm is generated by utilizing optical parametric down-conversion (OPDC) technique based on periodically poled KTiOPO₄ in a optical parametric amplifier (OPA) resonator. A non-classical noise reduction of 2.58 dB below the shot noise is observed through balanced homodyne detection. The squeezed state light is used to set up an imaging system for high-resolution imaging, and it is found that the resolution of image based on the amplitude-squeezed light is 1.26 times larger than that of infrared coherent light under the same intensity. The experimental results indicate that squeezed light is an important non-classical light, which can overcome the coherent laser shot-noise, the classical diffraction limit and limit of quantum noise.     

A scheme for Sagnac-effect quantum enhancement with Fock state light input

Sagnac effect enhancement can improve optical gyro precision. For a certain input intensity, we suggest that the other input port of beam splitter(BS) should be fed with some quantum light to break through shot noise limit(SNL) to improve Sagnac effect without increasing radiation-pressure noise(NRP). We design a Sagnac effect quantum enhancement criterion(SQEC) to judge whether some quantum light can enhance Sagnac effect and present a Sagnac effect enhancement scheme that utilizing Fock state light and parity measurement technique to extract the output phase. The results of the theoretical analysis show that the maximum sensitivity can be reached at θ = 0, and the phase precision can break through SNL and even achieve Heisenberg limit(HL). When the Fock state average photon number n is far less than coherent state, the minimum measurable angular rate is improved with (2n+1)~(1/2) times, which can deduce shot noise and increase NRP little.     

An adaptive singular value decomposition (SVD) algorithm for analysis of wavelength modulation spectra

Optical interference fringes due to unwanted etalons are often the limiting uncertainty in diode laser spectroscopic trace gas measurements. Temporal variations in the fringe spacings, phases, and amplitudes introduce systematic baseline changes that limit useful signal averaging times to ∼1000 s, and constrain minimum detectable absorbances to between one and three orders of magnitude worse than the fundamental limiting noise sources (shot noise and/or detector thermal noise). We describe an adaptive numerical filtering method based on singular value decomposition (SVD) that shows, for the system studied, a fivefold reduction in baseline drift due to unwanted etalons over a one-week-measurement period. The adaptive algorithm is fast (<1 ms per computation), robust, and uses linear methods. It is computationally equivalent to principal component analysis (PCA). The test system was acetylene detected using a near-infrared telecommunications laser operating at 6541.96 cm^-1. The gas detection limit was 20 ppb (1σ) over the one-week measurement. PACS 07.05.Kf; 07.07.Df; 07.60.-j; 42.60.-v; 42.62.-b; 42.62.Fi     

Low noise, continuous-wave single-frequency 1.5-μm laser generated by a singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

We report a low noise continuous-wave (CW) single-frequency 1.5-μm laser source obtained by a singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (SRO) based on periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN). The SRO was pumped by a CW single-frequency Nd:YVO₄ laser at 1.06 μm. The 1.02 W of CW single-frequency signal laser at 1.5 μm was obtained at pump power of 6 W. At the output power of around 0.75 W, the power stability was better than ±1.5% and no mode-hopping was observed in 30 min and frequency stability was better than 8.5 MHz in 1 min. The signal wavelength could be tuned from 1.57 to 1.59 μm by varying the PPLN temperature. The 1.5-μm laser exhibits low noise characteristics, the intensity noise of the laser reaches the shot noise limit (SNL) at an analysis frequency of 4 MHz and the phase noise is less than 1 dB above the SNL at analysis frequencies above 10 MHz.     

Optical-feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy with a quantum-cascade laser yields the lowest formaldehyde detection limit

We report on the first application of Optical Feedback-Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy to formaldehyde trace gas analysis at mid-infrared wavelengths. A continuous-wave room-temperature, distributed-feedback quantum cascade laser emitting around 1,769 cm^?1 has been successfully coupled to an optical cavity with finesse 10,000 in an OF-CEAS spectrometer operating on the ν₂ fundamental absorption band of formaldehyde. This compact setup (easily transportable) is able to monitor H₂CO at ambient concentrations within few seconds, presently limited by the sample exchange rate. The minimum detectable absorption is 1.6 × 10^?9 cm^?1 for a single laser scan (100 ms, 100 data points), with a detectable H₂CO mixing ratio of 60 pptv at 10 Hz. The corresponding detection limit at 1 Hz is 5 × 10^?10 cm^?1, with a normalized figure of merit of 5 × 10^?11cm $^{-1}/\sqrt{\rm Hz}$ (100 data points recorded in each spectrum taken at 10 Hz rate). A preliminary Allan variance analysis shows white noise averaging down to a minimum detection limit of 5 pptv at an optimal integration time of 10 s, which is significantly better than previous results based on multi-pass or cavity-enhanced tunable QCL absorption spectroscopy.     

变像管同步扫描相机的理论分析

本文主要讨论了变像管同步扫描对皮秒弱光现象诊断理论依据,从噪声理论出发,导出了这种相机的探测方程和最小可探测光功率密度的表达式,同时用概率论和数理统计的方法研究了这种相机的极限时间分辨率,并用蒙特卡洛模拟方法计算了其时间传递函数。分析表明,该类相机的最小可探测光功率密度约为10¹²W/mm,时间分辨率较单次扫描机更高。     

Cavity-enhanced optical frequency comb spectroscopy in the mid-infrared application to trace detection of hydrogen peroxide

We demonstrate the first cavity-enhanced optical frequency comb spectroscopy in the mid-infrared wavelength region and report the sensitive real-time trace detection of hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a large amount of water. The experimental apparatus is based on a mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator synchronously pumped by a high-power Yb:fiber laser, a high-finesse broadband cavity, and a fast-scanning Fourier transform spectrometer with autobalancing detection. The comb spectrum with a bandwidth of 200 nm centered around 3.76 μm is simultaneously coupled to the cavity and both degrees of freedom of the comb, i.e. the repetition rate and carrier envelope offset frequency, are locked to the cavity to ensure stable transmission. The autobalancing detection scheme reduces the intensity noise by a factor of 300, and a sensitivity of 5.4×10^?9 cm^?1?Hz^?1/2 with a resolution of 800 MHz is achieved (corresponding to 6.9×10^?11 cm^?1?Hz^?1/2 per spectral element for 6000 resolved elements). This yields a noise equivalent detection limit for hydrogen peroxide of 8 parts-per-billion (ppb); in the presence of 2.8 % of water the detection limit is 130 ppb. Spectra of acetylene, methane, and nitrous oxide at atmospheric pressure are also presented, and a line-shape model is developed to simulate the experimental data.     

Ultra-sensitive mid-infrared cavity leak-out spectroscopy using a cw optical parametric oscillator

We report a portable, all-solid-state, mid-infrared spectrometer for trace-gas analysis. The light source is a continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator based on PPLN and pumped by a Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm. The generated single-frequency idler output covers the wavelength region between 2.35 and 3.75 μm. With its narrow line width, this light source is suitable for precise trace-gas analysis with very high sensitivity. Using cavity leak-out spectroscopy we achieved a minimum detectable absorption coefficient of 1.2×10^-9 /cm (integration time: 16 s), corresponding, for example, to a detection limit of 300 parts per trillion ethane. This sensitivity and the compact design make this trace-gas analyzer a promising tool for various in situ environmental and medical applications. Received: 19 September 2002 / Published online: 15 November 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-228/733-474, E-mail: frank.kuehnemann@iap.uni-bonn.de     

Parts per trillion sensitivity for ethane in air with an optical parametric oscillator cavity leak-out spectrometer

Spectroscopic detection of ethane in the 3-microm wavelength region was performed by means of a cw optical parametric oscillator and cavity leak-out. We achieved a minimum detectable absorption coefficient of 1.6 x 10(-10) cm 1/square root of Hz, corresponding to an ethane detection limit of 6 parts per trillion/square root of Hz. For 3-min integration time the detection limit was 0.5 parts per trillion. The levels are to our knowledge the best demonstrated so far. These frequency-tuning capabilities facilitated multigas analysis with simultaneous monitoring of ethane, methane, and water vapor in human breath.     

Experimental demonstration of unconditional entanglement swapping for continuous variables

The unconditional entanglement swapping for continuous variables is experimentally demonstrated. Two initial entangled states are produced from two nondegenerate optical parametric amplifiers operating at de-amplification. Through implementing the direct measurement of the Bell-state between two optical beams from each amplifier the remaining two optical beams, which have never directly interacted with each other, are entangled. The quantum correlation degrees of 1.23 and 1.12 dB below the shot noise limit for the amplitude and phase quadratures resulting from the entanglement swapping are measured straightly.     

连续变量无条件纠缠交换 --纠缠态的量子离物传送

利用自行设计的两台非简并光学参量放大器，获得了一对具有经典相干性且量子起伏相互独立的连续变量纠缠态光场，并用它完成了连续变量的无条件纠缠交换，即纠缠态的量子离物传送．通过联合贝尔态探测与纠缠塌缩，使两个初始不纠缠而又从未发生过直接相互作用的光场产生了量子纠缠，其正交振幅和位相分量的量子起伏关联方差被直接测量，其测量值分别低于散离噪声极限1．23dB和1．12dB．理论计算与实验结果基本符合．     

Cavity enhanced wavelength modulation spectrometry for application in chemical analysis

A simple and robust absorption technique is developed which combines cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy and wavelength modulation spectroscopy and measures the integrated output of unlocked cavities. The detection power of the technique is affected by peculiarities of the laser injection into a cavity causing excess noise which exceeds the shot noise. The noise and ways for its reduction are discussed. The new method is demonstrated by absorption measurements of excited carbon atoms in a microwave induced plasma. Preliminary detection limits equivalent to optical depths below 10^-6 were obtained. PACS 42.55.Px; 42.62.Fi; 42.60.Mi     

Sub-ppb NO2 detection by optical feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy with a blue diode laser

We report preliminary results on the first application of optical feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy with a blue (411 nm) extended cavity diode laser (ECDL) for NO₂ detection. While this technique was originally developed to operate with distributed feedback diode lasers in the near infrared, it is here extended to ECDLs and applied to the blue spectral region. With a simple and compact optical setup, we demonstrate from the baseline noise a minimum detectable NO₂ concentration of 6×10⁹ molecules/cm³ for a single laser scan (70 ms), which extrapolated under atmospheric conditions corresponds to 200 pptv. Signal averaging should allow further lowering of this limit. Observed absorption spectra display more structure than previous spectra obtained at lower resolution by Fourier-transform spectroscopy at the same wavelength. PACS 07.88.+y; 42.55.Px; 42.62.Fi     

Resonant photoacoustic detection of trace gas with DFB diode laser

A resonant photoacoustic detection system based on a low-power distributed feedback diode laser is developed. This sensor has been applied to the detection of acetylene (C₂H₂) using a specifically designed photoacoustic cell operating on its second longitudinal mode. The minimum detectable limit of about 10 parts-per-million volume (SNR=1) is achieved with an average laser power of 3.5 mW at atmospheric pressure, and an integration time constant of 3 ms; thus, the minimum detectable absorption coefficient normalised by power and bandwidth is 4.0×10⁻⁸ W cm⁻¹/√Hz. The optimum operating pressure buffered with N₂ is also investigated. The realisation of our system is described and experimental results are compared with different modulation techniques and other results reported in the literature. A number of issues arising from the conventional use of mechanical chopping of the beam can be effectively suppressed in wavelength modulation PA spectroscopy (WM-PAS) and second harmonic detection.     

Experimental generation of optical non-classical states of light with 1.34 <Emphasis Type="Italic">μ</Emphasis>m wavelength

We report the experimental generation of the optical non-classical states with 1.34 μm wavelength which is close to one of the fiber telecommunication windows (1.31 μm). The single-mode amplitude squeezed states with quantum fluctuation of 2.3 ± 0.1 dB below the shot noise limit (SNL) and the entangled states with quantum correlation of 1.1 ± 0.1 dB below the SNL are produced by an optical parametric amplifier with a type-I phase-matched PPKTP crystal and a pair of properly oriented type-II phase-matched KTP crystals, respectively.     

Chirped laser dispersion spectroscopy with harmonic detection of molecular spectra

Chirped laser dispersion spectroscopy (CLaDS) has been introduced recently as a technique that performs molecular detection based on measurement of optical dispersion. In this paper, a new detection scheme based on chirp modulation (CM) and subsequent phase-sensitive detection is described. CM-CLaDS inherits the full advantages of conventional CLaDS and additionally overcomes some of its limitations. A prototype CM-CLaDS instrument has been developed and characterized in laboratory conditions. The system is based on a distributed feedback quantum cascade laser which operates around 4.52???m and can probe the most intense nitrous oxide (N₂O) ro-vibrational transitions. Preliminary performance tests are presented and provide a path/bandwidth normalized minimum N₂O detection limit below 100?ppbv?m/Hz^1/2.     

Continuous wave optical parametric oscillator for quartz-enhanced photoacoustic trace gas sensing

A continuous wave optical parametric oscillator, generating up to 300 mW idler output in the 3–4 μm wavelength region, and pumped by a fiber-amplified DBR diode laser is used for trace gas detection by means of quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS). Mode-hop-free tuning of the OPO output over 5.2 cm^-1 and continuous spectral coverage exceeding 16.5 cm^-1 were achieved via electronic pump source tuning alone. Online monitoring of the idler wavelength, with feedback to the DBR diode laser, provided an automated closed-loop control allowing arbitrary idler wavelength selection within the pump tuning range and locking of the idler wavelength with a stability of 1.7×10^-3 cm^-1 over at least 30 min. Using this approach, we locked the idler wavelength at an ethane absorption peak and obtained QEPAS data to verify the linear response of the QEPAS signal at different ethane concentrations (100 ppbv-20 ppmv) and different power levels. The detection limit for ethane was determined to be 13 ppbv (20 s averaging), corresponding to a normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient of 4.4×10^-7 cm^-1  W/Hz^1/2. PACS 42.55.Wd; 42.65.Yj; 42.62.Fi     

光外差-磁旋转-浓度调制光谱技术

介绍了一种针对瞬态分子光谱测量的新技术:光外差磁旋转浓度调制光谱技术,这种光谱技术具有很高的灵敏度,综合了光外差探测技术、磁旋转光谱技术和浓度调制光谱技术的特点,利用浓度调制光谱技术针对寿命很短的瞬态分子和激发态分子的光谱进行测量,利用光外差探测技术可以消除来自光源的幅度涨落噪声,实现散粒噪声的测量极限,利用磁旋转光谱技术可以对顺磁性分子进行选择性的测量,并且进一步提高探测灵敏度。详细讨论了这种光谱技术的工作原理,并用这种技术对O2分子的b1Σg+-X3Σg-三重禁戒跃迁光谱进行测量,获得了很好的测量信噪比。并对该技术的灵敏度作了详细的分析,估计最小相对吸收度可达1.9×10-9以及O2分子三重禁戒跃迁的吸收截面为σ=2.4×10-24cm2。     

Near shot noise detection of oxygen in the A-band with vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

A dual-beam laser absorption spectrometer with balanced detection for high sensitivity detection of oxygen via the A-band at 760 nm is described. The 2×2 vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays used for this set-up are characterized by their wavelength tuning behavior with temperature and current, amplitude modulation, side-mode suppression ratio and polarization contrast. The spectrometer performance is determined over time periods of up to 10 h using the variation in the differential absorption between two beam paths. With the R11R11 line at STP, 670 μW laser power and 200 mm-long absorption cells, we realized an excellent linearity (R=0.9999) and over a 5-min interval a record sensitivity for VCSEL-based spectrometers of 35 ppmV, corresponding to an optical density (O.D.) of 7×10^-7. For this specific set-up, this sensitivity is only a factor of 2.7 above the shot noise limit, giving us a normalized detection limit of 7.6 ppmV·m·. Over a 10-h interval we achieved a standard deviation of 65 ppmV. Received: 26 July 2000 / Revised version: 1 November 2000 / Published online: 6 December 2000     

Efficient homodyne measurement of picosecond squeezed pulses with pulse shaping technique

We report on the detection of picosecond pulsed squeezed light generated by an optical parametric amplification in a periodically poled MgO:LiNbO(3) waveguide. By using a temporally shaped local oscillator in a balanced homodyne detection, we obverved the squeezing of -5.0 dB below the shot noise level. The squeezing level at the exit of the waveguide was estimated to be -9.7±0.8 dB.