Improved waveguide-based ultraviolet light generation and pulsed squeezing at 795 nm

We report on the waveguide-based generation of pulsed squeezed light at 795 nm, suitable for quantum enhanced measurements with rubidium atoms. Pulsed ultraviolet second harmonic light with a power of more than 400 mW is produced using a periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPLN) waveguide and is injected into another PPLN waveguide to generate quadrature squeezing. We find that the phase of the second harmonic pulse is shifted within a pulse, and we attribute the shift to heating due to blue-light induced infrared absorption (BLIIRA) from a comparison between the experiment and a numerical simulation. A squeezing level of -1.5(1) dB is observed in homodyne detection when we apply a linear phase shift to the local oscillator. The experiment and simulation imply that the squeezing level can be further improved by reducing BLIIRA.