Degenerate four-wave mixing as a low-power source of squeezed light

TL;DR

This paper proposes a theoretical method for generating squeezed light using degenerate four-wave mixing in atomic vapors, enabling low-power, portable quantum light sources with potential applications in sensitive measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a novel low-power approach for producing squeezed light via degenerate four-wave mixing, with suggested experimental techniques to minimize noise.

Findings

Potential to generate measurable squeezing with low-power diode lasers

Reduction of excess noise is feasible with proposed techniques

Enables development of compact, portable squeezed light sources

Abstract

Squeezed light is a quantum resource that can improve the sensitivity of optical measurements. However, existing sources of squeezed light generally require high powers and are not amenable to portability. Here we theoretically investigate an alternative technique for generating squeezing using degenerate four-wave-mixing in atomic vapors. We show that by minimizing excess noise, this technique has the potential to generate measurable squeezing with low powers attainable by a small diode laser. We suggest experimental techniques to reduce excess noise and employ this alternative nonlinear optical process to build a compact, low-power source of squeezed light.