Polarization Instabilities in a Two-Photon Laser

Olivier Pfister; William J. Brown; Michael D. Stenner; Daniel J. Gauthier

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.4512

Polarization Instabilities in a Two-Photon Laser

Olivier Pfister, William J. Brown, Michael D. Stenner, and Daniel J. Gauthier

Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 4512 – Published 14 May 2001

Abstract

We describe the operating characteristics of a new type of quantum oscillator that is based on a two-photon stimulated emission process. This two-photon laser consists of spin-polarized and laser-driven $^{39} K$ atoms placed in a high-finesse transverse-mode-degenerate optical resonator and produces a beam with a power of $\sim 0.2 μ W$ at a wavelength of 770 nm. We observe complex dynamical instabilities of the state of polarization of the two-photon laser, which are made possible by the atomic Zeeman degeneracy. We conjecture that the laser could emit polarization-entangled twin beams if this degeneracy is lifted.

Received 24 December 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.4512

Authors & Affiliations

Olivier Pfister^*, William J. Brown^†, Michael D. Stenner, and Daniel J. Gauthier^‡

Department of Physics and Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0305

^*Present address: Department of Physics, University of Virginia, 382 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4714.
^†Present address: Corvis Corp., 7015 Albert Einstein Drive, Columbia, MD 21046-9400.
^‡Corresponding author.Email address: gauthier@phy.duke.edu