Abstract

We demonstrate experimentally a new configuration for phase-sensitive optical parametric amplification. This configuration uses two input modes (signal and vacuum), and two output modes. First, it. is observed that the signal-to-(quantum)-noise ratio (SNR) for the amplified quadrature of the input signal mode is preserved in each of the two outputs, in contrast to classical optical amplifiers, which degrade the SNR by at least 3 dB at high gain.¹ Sceond, the two outputs are, in one quadrature, a perfect duplicate of the amplified signal quadrature, in contrast to classical optical laps, which add partition noise. The basic mechanism responsible for these nonclassical effects relies on the input vacuum mode being squeezed by the same crystal that amplifies the signal mode.

© 1993 Optical Society of America