Abstract

We report on the generation of squeezed states with optical parametric oscillators. Firstly, we discuss experiments aimed toward producing stronger squeezing. We characterise three different nonlinear materials (PPKTP, PPSLN and PPSLT) in terms of their nonlinearity and optical losses to evaluate their squeezing efficacy. Secondly, we present results showing the development of squeezed states at audio sideband frequencies. Squeezing in this frequency range is required for applications in interferometric gravitational wave (GW) detectors. We discuss the significance of the results in terms of potential sensitivity improvements of current and future GW detectors and also potential upgrades to our experiment.

© 2007 Optical Society of America