Generation and direct detection of broadband mesoscopic polarization-squeezed vacuum

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 May 8;102(18):183602. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.183602. Epub 2009 May 8.

Abstract

Using a traveling-wave optical parametric amplifier with two orthogonally oriented type-I BBO crystals pumped by picosecond pulses, we generate vertically and horizontally polarized squeezed vacuum states within a broad frequency-angular range. Depending on the phase between these states, fluctuations in one or another Stokes parameter are suppressed below the shot-noise limit. Because of the large number of photon pairs produced, no local oscillator is required, and 3 dB squeezing is observed by means of direct detection.