Heralded source of bright multi-mode mesoscopic sub-Poissonian light

Area of Science:

• Quantum optics
• Nonlinear optics

Background:

• Squeezed states of light are crucial for quantum technologies.
• Parametric downconversion is a key method for generating non-classical light states.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a direct detection scheme for multi-mode, two-color squeezed vacuum.
• To prepare heralded sub-Poissonian light pulses for metrology and nonlinear optics research.

Main Methods:

• Utilized parametric downconversion to generate multi-mode, two-color squeezed vacuum.
• Employed a direct detection scheme with post-selection.
• Characterized the quantum properties of the generated light pulses.

Main Results:

• Observed 7.8 dB of twin-beam squeezing.
• Conditionally prepared sub-Poissonian light pulses with a Fano factor of 0.63±0.01.
• Achieved heralded pulses with mean energy of tens to hundreds of fJ, below shot-noise level.

Conclusions:

• The demonstrated scheme enables heralded preparation of quantum light pulses.
• These pulses have significant potential for applications in precision measurement and fundamental physics studies.