Research Investigation Directed Toward Extending the Useful Range of the Electromagnetic Spectrum.
Abstract
The characteristics of light generated by distinctly non-Poisson processes have been studied with particular interest in sub-Poisson light (light whose photon-number fluctuations are lower than those of lasers). The use of such quiet light can be beneficial, e.g., it could possibly increase the distance between repeaters in a fiber-optic communications system. As an example of a mechanism for producing such light, a Franck-Hertz apparatus excited by a space-charge-limited electron beam has been studied. Extensive theoretical calculations of the properties of such a source of light have been carried out. Under suitable conditions this device can produce antibunced and sub-Poisson photon emissions. Initial experiments were carried out which produced a photon-counting distribution that was indeed sub-Poisson, thereby providing the first cw source of nonclassical quiet light. A quantum analog of the Burgess variance theorem has also been proven. This confirmed that the sub-Poisson nature of a light beam is conserved in the presence of absorptive media and additive (Poisson) background light. Thus the light can be used once it is generated. Two other ways of producing nonclassical light have been investigated: (1) the generation of sub-Poisson light by selective deletion from cascaded atomic emissions and (2) the generation of binomial states of the quantized radiation field and an exploration of their properties.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 31, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA163482
Entities
People
- George W. Flynn
- Richard M. Osgood, Jr.
Organizations
- Columbia University