Abstract

In conditions of strong pump depletion, four-wave mixers can generate a quantum mechanical superimposition of two macroscopically distinguishable states of the electromagnetic field. We have shown with exactly solvable models¹ and computer simulations that a four-wave mixer can, in conditions of strong pump depletion, generate states of the electromagnetic field which consist of a quantum mechanical superimposition of two macroscopically distinguishable states. In particular, in suitable conditions, the four-wave mixer can generate a superimposition of two coherent states of large amplitude but 180° out of phase with respect to each other. Experimentally, one can distinguish such Schrodinger catlike states from a statistical mixture by performing a measurement in which the interference between the two macroscopically distinguishable parts of the wave function is exhibited. For the cases we have considered, this interference can be exhibited as fringes in the probability distribution for the photocurrent delivered by a homodyne detector.

© 1986 Optical Society of America