Abstract

The definitions of homogeneous squeezing, inhomogeneous squeezing, spectral component squeezing, and degree of squeezing are introduced for an optical field that is not necessarily squeezed in the full sense. They are then applied to three different examples of squeezed states. It is shown that in resonance fluorescence from a two-level atom the squeezing is homogeneous when the relative Rabi frequency Ω/β < 1, inhomogeneous when $1<\Omega /\beta <\sqrt{2}$, and spectral component-type squeezing when $\Omega /\beta >\sqrt{2}$, and the maximum degree of squeezing is 28%. For the process of downconversion in a resonant cavity the squeezing is homogeneous with a 100% maximum degree of squeezing. In the process of four-wave mixing the squeezing is always inhomogeneous, and there is a domain of spectral component squeezing, but the degree of squeezing can be 100% in certain circumstances.

© 1987 Optical Society of America