Multimode Quantum Correlations in Supercontinuum Pulses

TL;DR

This paper experimentally characterizes the quantum noise and spectral correlations in supercontinuum light generated from a photonic crystal fiber, revealing the potential for noise squeezing below the shot-noise limit in certain bases.

Contribution

It introduces the first quantum mechanical characterization of supercontinuum spectral noise and demonstrates basis transformations that enable noise squeezing.

Findings

Quantum noise and spectral correlations are experimentally characterized.

Supercontinuum noise amplitude can be squeezed below the shot-noise limit.

Quantum properties of supercontinuum light are revealed despite large nonlinearities.

Abstract

Suprecontinuum (SC) light contains complex spectral noise structure and its accurate characterization is important for fundamental understanding of its physics as well as for its applications. Several experimental and theoretical noise characterizations have been performed so far. However, none of them takes into account the quantum mechanical properties. Here, we demonstrate experimental characterisation of quantum noise and its spectral correlations formed in the SC light generated from a photonic crystal fiber. Moreover, by applying an appropriate basis transformation to these correlations, we demonstrate that the SC noise amplitude can be squeezed below the shot-noise limit in some bases, even in the presence of excessively large nonlinearities.