Detection of stably bright squeezed light with the quantum noise reduction of 12.6 dB by mutually compensating the phase fluctuations

Generation of squeezed vacuum state in the millihertz frequency band

The detection of gravitational waves has ushered in a new era of observing the universe. Quantum resource advantages offer significant enhancements to the sensitivity of gravitational wave observatories. While squeezed states for ground-based gravitational wave detection have received marked attention, the generation of squeezed states suitable for mid-to-low-frequency detection has remained unexplored. To address the gap in squeezed state optical fields at ultra-low frequencies, we report on the first direct observation of a squeezed vacuum field until Fourier frequency of 4 millihertz with the quantum noise reduction of up to 8.0 dB, by the employment of a multiple noise suppression scheme. Our work provides quantum resources for future gravitational wave observatories, facilitating the development of quantum precision measurement.

Laboratory demonstration of an off-axis optical bench design for future gravity missions

The inter-satellite laser ranging interferometer is one of the core components of future gravity missions to achieve high ranging precision. This work builds a preliminary breadboard of the off-axis optical bench design, which integrates the merits of the off-axis optical bench design of GRACE Follow-On mission and other on-axis designs. The study finds that the displacement noise between two optical benches has been reduced to 20nm/Hz at a frequency of 10 mHz, and the differential wavefront sensing noise has been suppressed to 10-5rad/Hz at 1 kHz as well. In addition, the tilt-to-length coupling noise related to the piston effect is restricted within 30 μm/rad, and the relative parallelism error of the transmitting beam and receiving beam is less than 4.5%. The results show that this off-axis optical bench design is an important candidate for China's future gravity missions.

Loss-tolerant and quantum-enhanced interferometer by reversed squeezing processes

Reversed nonlinear dynamics is predicted to be capable of enhancing the quantum sensing in unprecedented ways. Here, we report the experimental demonstration of a loss-tolerant (external loss) and quantum-enhanced interferometer. Two cascaded optical parametric amplifiers are used to judiciously construct an interferometry with two orthogonal squeezing operation. As a consequence, a weak displacement introduced by a test cavity can be amplified for measurement, and the measured signal-to-noise ratio is better than that of both conventional photon shot-noise limited and squeezed-light assisted interferometers. We further confirm its superior loss-tolerant performance by varying the external losses and comparing with both conventional photon shot-noise limited and squeezed-light assisted configurations, illustrating the potential application in gravitational wave detection.

Teleportation goes to Hertz rate

Quantum teleportation has been developed to simultaneously realize the Hertz rate and the 64-km distance through fiber channels, which is essential to real-world application of quantum network.

Generating six pairs of bandwidth-expanded entangled sideband modes via time delay compensation

Quantum entanglement is an important pillar of quantum information processing. In addition to the entanglement degree, the bandwidth of entangled states becomes another focus of quantum communication. Here, by virtue of a broadband frequency-dependent beam splitter, we experimentally demonstrate six pairs of independent entangled sideband modes with maximum entanglement degree of 8.1 dB. Utilizing a time delay compensation scheme, the bandwidth of independent entangled sideband modes is expanded to dozens of megahertz. This work provides a valuable resource to implement efficient quantum information processing.

Stabilization improvement of the squeezed optical fields using a high signal-to-noise ratio bootstrap photodetector

High-precision cavity locking is crucial for squeezing optical fields. Here, a bootstrapped low-noise photodetector is utilized in the generation process of the squeezed state of light. This process is based on a combination of a modified trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) circuit and a two-stage bootstrap amplifier circuit. This not only achieves high-precision and long-term stable locking of the optical cavity, but it also improves the degree to which the light field is squeezed. The experiment results show that the detector has a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 26.7 dB at the analysis frequency of 3 MHz when measuring the shot noise with an injection optical power of 800 µW, and the equivalent optical power noise level is lower than 2.4 pW/Hz in the frequency range of 1-30 MHz. Moreover, the squeezing degree of the quadrature amplitude squeezed state light field can be improved by more than 34.9% when the detector is used for optical cavity locking. The photodetector is useful in continuous variable (CV) quantum information research.

Over-20-octaves-bandwidth ultralow-intensity-noise 1064-nm single-frequency fiber laser based on a comprehensive all-optical technique

An over-20-octaves-bandwidth ultralow-intensity-noise 1064-nm single-frequency fiber laser (SFFL) is demonstrated based on a comprehensive all-optical technique. With a joint action of booster optical amplifier (BOA) and reflective Yb-doped fiber amplifier (RYDFA), two-fold optical gain saturation effects, respectively occurring in the media of semiconductor and fiber, have been synthetically leveraged. Benefiting from the gain dynamics in complementary time scales, i.e., nanosecond-order carrier lifetime in BOA and millisecond-order upper-level lifetime in RYDFA, the relative intensity noise (RIN) is reduced to -150 dB/Hz from 0.2 kHz to 350 MHz, which exceeds 20-octaves bandwidth. Remarkably, a maximum suppressing ratio of >54 dB is obtained, and the RIN in the range of 0.09-10 GHz reaches -161 dB/Hz which is only 2.3 dB above the shot-noise limit. This broad-bandwidth ultralow-intensity-noise SFFL can serve as an important building block for squeezed light generation, space laser communication, space gravitational wave detection, etc.

Generation of Long-Term Stable Squeezed Vacuum States Using Dither-Locking Technique

We report the generation of long-term stable squeezed vacuum states at 1064 nm using a degenerate optical parametric amplifier (DOPA) with a periodically poled KTiOPO4 crystal (PPKTP). The OPA is pumped by a 532 nm light produced by frequency doubling the fundamental light with a bow-tie enhancement second harmonic generator (SHG). When the DOPA and relative phases are locked using a dither-locking method, the squeezed vacuum states are stably measured over 2 h at 11 MHz. The highly compact and simple squeezed light source is suitable for applications in quantum optics experiments.

Cavity enhanced parametric homodyne detection of a squeezed quantum comb

A squeezed state with higher-order sidebands is a valuable quantum resource for channel multiplexing quantum communication. However, balanced homodyne detection used in nonclassical light detection has a trade-off performance between the detection bandwidth and clearance, in which the verification of a highly squeezing factor faces a challenge. Here, we construct two optical parametric amplifiers with cavity enhancement; one is for the generation of a -10.5 dB squeezed vacuum state, and the other is for all-optical phase-sensitive parametric homodyne detection. Finally, -6.5 dB squeezing at the carrier with 17 pairs of squeezing sidebands (bandwidth of 156 GHz) is directly and simultaneously observed. In particular, for the cavity-enhanced parametric oscillation and detection processes, we analyze the limiting factors of the detectable bandwidth and measurement deviation from the generated value, which indicates that the length difference and propagation loss between two optical parametric amplifiers should be as small as possible to improve the detection performance. The experimental results confirm our theoretical analysis.

Entangled sideband control scheme via frequency-comb-type seed beam

We report a control scheme of entangled sideband modes without coherent amplitude by employing a frequency-comb-type seed beam. In this scheme, each tooth of the frequency comb serves as a control field for the corresponding downconversion mode. Consequently, all the degrees of freedom can be actively controlled, and the entanglement degrees are higher than 6.7 dB for two pairs of sidebands. We believe that this scheme provides a simple solution for the control of sideband modes, which could be further applied to achieve compact channel multiplexing quantum communications.

Precise control of squeezing angle to generate 11 dB entangled state

The strength of the quantum correlations of a continuous-variable entangled state is determined by several relative phases in the preparation, transmission, and detection processes of entangled states. In this paper, we report the first experimental and theoretical demonstrations of the precision of relative phases associated with the strength of quadrature correlations. Based on the interrelations of the relative phases, three precisely phase-locking methodologies are established: ultralow RAM control loops for the lengths and relative phases stabilization of the DOPAs, difference DC locking for the relative phase between the two squeezed beams, and DC-AC joint locking for the relative phases in BHDs. The phase-locking loops ensure the total phase noise to be 9.7±0.32/11.1±0.36 mrad. Finally, all the relative phase deviations are controlled to be in the range of -35 to 35 mrad, which enhances the correlations of the amplitude and phase quadratures to -11.1 and -11.3 dB. The entanglement also exhibits a broadband squeezing bandwidth up to 100 MHz. This paves a valuable resource for experimental realization and applications in quantum information and precision measurement.

Security analysis of continuous variable quantum key distribution based on entangled states with biased correlations

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entangled states can significantly enhance the secret key rate and secure distance of continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD). In practical imperfections always exist in the preparation of two-mode squeezing (entangled states), which present an asymmetrical variance for the two quadratures. The imperfections induced by the bias effect of the entangled states are commonly treated as part of the untrusted channel to decrease the performance of the system. Here, we theoretically quantify the influence of bias effect on the secret key rate and secure distance, and propose a solution of generating unbiased entangled states protocol. The results demonstrated that the unbiased entangled states protocol guarantees the longest secure distance and highest key rate compared to that of coherent and biased entangled states.

Controllable continuous variable quantum state distributor

To scale quantum information processing, quantum state distributors are an indispensable technology in quantum networks. We present a universal scheme of a continuous variable quantum state distributor that performs point-to-multipoint distributions via quantum teleportation with partially disembodied transport. The fidelity of the state at the output nodes can be conveniently manipulated as needed by engineering the correlation noise of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) beam. For a 1→2 distributor, controllable distributions were demonstrated by manipulating the squeezing factor of EPR entanglement. The fidelities of the two receivers gradually changed from (2/3, 2/3) to (0.95, 0.17) corresponding to the transition from symmetric to asymmetric quantum cloning.

Demonstration of Channel Multiplexing Quantum Communication Exploiting Entangled Sideband Modes

Channel multiplexing quantum communication based on exploiting continuous-variable entanglement of optical modes offers great potential to enhance channel capacity and save quantum resource. Here, we present a frequency-comb-type control scheme for simultaneously extracting a lot of entangled sideband modes with arbitrary frequency detuning from a squeezed state of light. We experimentally demonstrate fourfold channel multiplexing quantum dense coding communication by exploiting the extracted four pairs of entangled sideband modes. Due to high entanglement and wide frequency separation between each entangled pairs, these quantum channels have large channel capacity and the cross talking effect can be avoided. The achieved channel capacities have surpassed that of all classical and quantum communication under the same bandwidth published so far. The presented scheme can be extended to more channels if more entangled sideband modes are extracted.

Observation of a comb of squeezed states with a strong squeezing factor by a bichromatic local oscillator

We demonstrate the experimental detection of an optical squeezing covering several higher resonances of the optical parametric amplifier (OPA) by adopting a bichromatic local oscillator (BLO). The BLO is generated from a waveguide electro-optic phase modulator (WGM) and subsequent optical mode cleaner (OMC), without the need of additional power balance and phase control. The WGM is used for generating the frequency-shifted sideband beams with equal power and certain phase difference, and the OMC is used for filtering the unwanted optical modes. Among a measurement frequency range from 0 to 16.64 GHz, the maximum squeezing factors are superior to 10 dB below the shot noise limit for the first three discrete odd-order resonances of the OPA.

Force measurement in squeezed dissipative optomechanics in the presence of laser phase noise

We investigate the force measurement sensitivity in a squeezed dissipative optomechanics within the free-mass regime under the influence of shot noise (SN) from the photon number fluctuations, laser phase noise from the pump laser, thermal noise from the environment, and optical losses from outcoupling and detection inefficiencies. Generally, squeezed light could generate a reduced SN on the squeezed quadrature and an enlarged quantum backaction noise (QBA) due to the antisqueezed conjugate quadrature. With an appropriate choice of phase angle in homodyne detection, QBA is cancellable, leading to an exponentially improved measurement sensitivity for the SN-dominated regime. By now, the effects of laser phase noise that is proportional to laser power emerge. The balance between squeezed SN and phase noise can lead to an sub-SQL sensitivity at an exponentially lower input power. However, the improvement by squeezing is limited by optical losses because high sensitivity is delicate and easily destroyed by optical losses.

Laser Intensity Noise Suppression for Preparing Audio-Frequency Squeezed Vacuum State of Light

Laser intensity noise suppression has essential effects on preparation and characterization of the audio-frequency squeezed vacuum state of light based on a sub-threshold optical parametric oscillator (OPO). We have implemented two feedback loops by using relevant acousto-optical modulators (AOM) to stabilize the intensity of 795-nm near infrared (NIR) fundamental laser and 397.5-nm ultraviolet (UV) laser generated by cavity-enhanced frequency doubling. Typical peak-to-peak laser intensity fluctuation with a bandwidth of ~10 kHz in a half hour has been improved from ±7.45% to ±0.06% for 795-nm NIR laser beam, and from ±9.04% to ±0.05% for 397.5-nm UV laser beam, respectively. The squeezing level of the squeezed vacuum state at 795 nm prepared by the sub-threshold OPO with a PPKTP crystal has been improved from −3.3 to −4.0 dB around 3~9 kHz of analysis frequency range.

Long-term stable continuous variable entanglement generation in type-II non-degenerate optical parametric amplifier

Long-term stable entanglement is a crucial aspect in the implementation of reliable quantum information processes. However, long-term continuous variable entanglement generation, especially in type-II non-degenerate optical parametric amplifier, has yet to be reported on. Here, we derive the relationship between entanglement and temperature fluctuations in the crystal of a type-II non-degenerate optical parametric amplifier, and propose a novel method for long-term stable entanglement generation by locking the temperature of the crystal. In the experiment, we obtain a 5.4 dB entanglement lasting two hours. The method holds promise in the generation of a truly usable above 10 dB entanglement and brings us closer to continuous-variable quantum information processing.

Realizing a high-efficiency 426nm laser with PPKTP by reducing mode-mismatch caused by the thermal effect

We report on a high conversion efficiency tunable laser at 426 nm by adopting an external frequency-doubling cavity pumped by a diode laser. For the frequency-doubling process at 426 nm, the major challenge of increasing the conversion efficiency is mode-match degradation originating from the severely thermal effect. Here, we find that the center of the equivalently thermal lens is not at the center of the nonlinear crystal. We minimize the variation of beam parameters of the Gaussian beam in the external cavity by optimizing the center of the thermal lens to beam waist. As a result, the mode-match degradation is reduced as the incident power is increased. Finally, a 405 mW blue light is obtained with the conversion efficiency of 81%.

Dependence of the squeezing and anti-squeezing factors of bright squeezed light on the seed beam power and pump beam noise

We demonstrate the dependence of the squeezing and anti-squeezing factors on the seed beam power at different pump beam noise levels. The results indicate that a seed field injected into the optical parametric amplifier (OPA) dramatically degenerates the squeezing factor due to noise coupling between the pump and seed fields, even if both the pump and seed fields reach the shot noise limit. The squeezing and anti-squeezing factors are immune to the pump beam noise due to no noise coupling when the system operates for the generation of squeezed vacuum states. The squeezing factor degrades gradually as the pump beam intensity noise and seed beam power is increased. The influence of the two orthogonal quadrature variations is mutually independent of each other.

Residual amplitude modulation and its mitigation in wedged electro-optic modulator

We theoretically analyze and experimentally investigate the dependence of residual amplitude modulation (RAM) on the beam radius within the electro-optic crystal (EOC), the wedge angle of the EOC and the overlap efficiency between the extraordinary and ordinary beams, and the overlap efficiency is determined by the distance from the wedge facet to the downstream polarizer. The results show that the RAM with the maximum optical path difference Δ at the edge of light spot presents a sinc-like curve,and the magnitude of Δ is directly proportional to the beam radius and the wedge angle. As a scaling factor, with the decrease of the overlap efficiency between the ordinary and extraordinary beams, the RAM can be further reduced.

Detection and perfect fitting of 13.2 dB squeezed vacuum states by considering green-light-induced infrared absorption

We report on a high-level squeezed vacuum state with maximum quantum noise reduction of 13.2 dB directly detected at the pump power of 180 mW. The pump power dependence of the squeezing factor is experimentally exhibited. When considering only loss and phase fluctuation, the fitting results have a large deviation from the measurement value near the threshold. By integrating green-light-induced infrared absorption (GLIIRA) loss, the squeezing factor can be perfectly fitted in the whole pump power range. The result indicates that GLIIRA loss should be thoroughly considered and quantified in the generation of high-level squeezed states.

Deterministic quantum teleportation through fiber channels

Quantum teleportation, which is the transfer of an unknown quantum state from one station to another over a certain distance with the help of nonlocal entanglement shared by a sender and a receiver, has been widely used as a fundamental element in quantum communication and quantum computation. Optical fibers are crucial information channels, but teleportation of continuous variable optical modes through fibers has not been realized so far. Here, we experimentally demonstrate deterministic quantum teleportation of an optical coherent state through fiber channels. Two sub-modes of an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entangled state are distributed to a sender and a receiver through a 3.0-km fiber, which acts as a quantum resource. The deterministic teleportation of optical modes over a fiber channel of 6.0 km is realized. A fidelity of 0.62 ± 0.03 is achieved for the retrieved quantum state, which breaks through the classical limit of ¹/₂. Our work provides a feasible scheme to implement deterministic quantum teleportation in communication networks.

Investigation of residual amplitude modulation in squeezed state generation system

We present an analysis on how the optical parametric oscillator (OPO) detuning and the relative phase drift deteriorate the stability of the squeezed states, including the output power and the squeezed degree, and investigate the influence of RAM on the cavity detuning and the relative phase drift under different cases. Subsequently, the RAM is experimentally measured. In term of the measurement results, we perform a comparative study about RAM's influence on the cavity and phase locking in two cases. As a result, with the error signal extracted from the transmission of the OPO, the output power stability of the squeezed light is greatly improved. With the phase modulation imposed on the signal beam, the long-term stability of the squeezed degree is significantly enhanced.