Abstract

A potential application of squeezed-state light is to improve the sensitivity of high-precision interferometers whose performance is generally limited by photon shot noise or photon-counting statistics. Such interferometers include passive laser gyroscopes and the very sensitive interferometers being developed to detect cosmic gravitational waves. One usually operates a high-precision interferometer in a differential mode, so that noise from the (laser) light source is in principle irrelevant. Operation in a differential mode means that there is a second, normally unused input port. Vacuum noise entering this second port is responsible for the irreducible photon shot noise at the interferometer’s output. Injecting squeezed-state light into the normally unused input port can improve the sensitivity. I discuss the use of squeezed-state light in ring interferometers, delayline Michelson interferometers, and Fabry-Perot interferometers. Included in the discussion are real degrading effects, such as losses, inefficient photodetectors, and laser noise in the presence of nonideal fringe contrast. I explore the compatibility of the squeezed-state technique with other exotic techniques for improving sensitivity, such as Drever's idea for power recycling. Sensitivity estimates for various configurations and techniques are presented.

© 1986 Optical Society of America