arXiv subjects

Fabien Bretenaker

Publications and source records attributed to Fabien Bretenaker.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Directing random lasing emission using cavity exciton-polaritons

Random lasing is an intriguing phenomenon occurring in disordered structures with optical gain. In such lasers, the scattering of light provides the necessary feedback for lasing action. Because of the light scattering, the random lasing systems emit in all the directions in contrast with the directional emission of the conventional lasers. While this property can be desired in some cases, the control of the emission directionality remains required for most of the applications. Besides, it is well known that the excitation of cavity exciton-polaritons is intrinsically directional. Each wavelength (energy) of the cavity polariton, which is a superposition of an excitonic state and a cavity mode, corresponds to a well-defined propagation direction. We demonstrate in this article that coupling the emission of a 2D random laser with a cavity polaritonic resonance permits to control the direction of emission of the random laser. This results in a directional random lasing whose emission angle with respect to the microcavity axis can be tuned in a large range of angles by varying the cavity detuning. The emission angles reached experimentally in this work are 15.8$^\circ$ and 22.4$^\circ$.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2019

Quantum properties of light propagating in a Coherent Population Oscillation Storage Medium

We study the propagation and storage of a quantum field using ultra-narrow Coherent Population Oscillations (CPO) in a $Λ-$type atomic medium. The predictions for classical fields are checked experimentally in a metastable vapor at room temperature. We derive the evolution of its squeezing spectrum in the presence of a large classical pump field which enables CPO to exist. We show that the spontaneous emission of the residual population pumped into the excited state progressively destroys the quantum noise properties of the quantum field along propagation. The output quantum field therefore tends to be a coherent state, discarding the possibility to store quantum states of light with CPO.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Ultra-low noise dual-frequency VECSEL at telecom wavelength using fully correlated pumping

An ultra-low intensity and beatnote phase noise dual-frequency vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser is built at telecom wavelength. The pump laser is realized by polarization combining two single-mode fibered laser diodes in a single-mode fiber, leading to a 100 % in-phase correlation of the pump noises for the two modes. The relative intensity noise is lower than -140 dB/Hz, and the beatnote phase noise is suppressed by 30 dB, getting close to the spontaneous emission limit. The role of the imperfect cancellation of the thermal effect resulting from unbalanced pumping of the two modes in the residual phase noise is evidenced.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Excess noise factor in non-Hermitian mode-locked lasers

We predict and observe the appearance of an excess noise factor due to the non-Hermiticity of the modes of two actively harmonically mode-locked lasers. The non uniform distribution of gain and losses in the ring cavities of these lasers causes a non-orthogonality of the longitudinal modes, which is responsible for an increase of the rate of spontaneous emission falling in the lasing pulsed mode. This leads to an increase of the phase noise of the pulse train generated by these lasers by more than 20 dB at some offset frequencies. This degradation can be prohibitive for the use of these lasers for several applications such as the generation of high spectral purity RF and low jitter clock signals.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Noise investigation of a dual-frequency VECSEL for application to Cesium clocks

We theoretically and experimentally study the noise of a class-A dual-frequency vertical external cavity surface emitting laser operating at Cesium clock wavelength. The intensity noises of the two orthogonally polarized modes and the phase noise of their beatnote are investigated. The intensity noises of the two modes and their correlations are well predicted by a theory based on coupled rate equations. The phase noise of the beatnote is well described by considering both thermal effects and the effect of phase-amplitude coupling. The good agreement between theory and experiment indicates possible ways to further decrease the laser noises.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2018

Phase evolution of the direct detection noise figure of a nondegenerate fiber phase sensitive amplifier

We experimentally investigate the evolution of the direct detection noise figure of a non degenerate phase sensitive amplifier based on nonlinear fiber, as a function of the relative phase between the signal, idler, and pump, all other parameters remaining fixed. The use of a fiber with a high stimulated Brillouin scattering threshold permits to investigate the full range of phase sensitive gain and noise figure without pump dithering. Good agreement is found with theory, both for signal only and combined signal and idler direct detections.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Infrared laser magnetometry with a NV doped diamond intracavity etalon

We propose an hybrid laser system consisting of a semiconductor external cavity laser associated to an intra-cavity diamond etalon doped with nitrogen-vacancy color centers. We consider laser emission tuned to the infrared absorption line that is enhanced under the magnetic field dependent nitrogen-vacancy electron spin resonance and show that this architecture leads to a compact solid-state magnetometer that can be operated at room-temperature. The sensitivity to the magnetic field limited by the photon shot-noise of the output laser beam is estimated to be around $250~\mathrm{fT/\sqrt{Hz}}$. Unlike usual NV center infrared magnetometry, this method would not require an external frequency stabilized laser. Since the proposed system relies on the competition between the laser threshold and an intracavity absorption, such laser-based optical sensor could be easily adapted to a broad variety of physical systems.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Room temperature cavity polaritons with 3D hybrid perovskite - Towards low-cost polaritonic devices

Hybrid halide perovskites are now considered as low-cost materials for contemporary research in photovoltaics and nanophotonics. In particular, because these materials can be solution processed, they represent a great hope for obtaining low-cost devices. While the potential of 2D layered hybrid perovskites for polaritonic devices operating at room temperature has been demonstrated in the past, the potential of the 3D perovskites has been much less explored for this particular application. Here, we report the strong exciton-photon coupling with 3D bromide hybrid perovskite. Cavity polaritons are experimentallly demonstrated from both reflectivity and photoluminescence experiments, at room temperature, in a 3$λ$/2 planar microcavity containing a large surface spin-coated $CH_3NH_3PbBr_3$ thin film. A microcavity quality factor of 92 was found and a large Rabi splitting of 70 meV was measured. This result paves the way to low-cost polaritonic devices operating at room temperature, potentially electrically injectable as 3D hybrid perovskites present good transport properties.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Phase Sensitive Amplification Enabled by Coherent Population Trapping

We isolate a novel four-wave mixing process, enabled by Coherent Population Trapping (CPT), leading to efficient phase sensitive amplification. This process is permitted by the exploitation of two transitions starting from the same twofold degenerate ground state. One of the transitions is used for CPT, defining bright and dark states from which ultra intense four-wave mixing is obtained via the other transition. This leads to the measurement of a strong phase sensitive gain even for low optical densities and out-of-resonance excitation. The enhancement of four-wave mixing is interpreted in the framework of the dark-state polariton formalism.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Analysis of the design of a passive resonant miniature optical gyroscope based on integrated optics technologies

We present a simple analysis of the design of a passive miniature resonant optical gyroscope. By combining the requirements on the angular random walk and the bias stability, we end up with simple expressions of the minimum diameter of the ring waveguide cavity and the maximum power that should be used to probe it. Using state-of-the-art performances of photonic integrated circuit and whispering gallery mode technologies in terms of propagation losses and mode size, we show that tactical grade gyroscope performances can be achieved with a diameter of a few cm provided the detrimental influence of Kerr effect is mitigated, using for instance an active control of the unbalance in the intensities. We further extend the analysis to medium performance gyroscope and give some hints on the efforts to be made to potentially demonstrate a miniature resonant optical gyroscope with this level of performance.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2017

30-Hz relative linewidth watt output power 1.65-$μ$m continuous-wave singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

We built a 1-watt cw singly resonant optical parametric oscillator operating at an idler wavelength of 1.65~$μ$m for application to quantum interfaces. The non resonant idler is frequency stabilized by side-fringe locking on a relatively high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity, and the influence of intensity noise is carefully analyzed. A relative linewidth down to the sub-kHz level (about 30 Hz over 2 s) is achieved. A very good long term stability is obtained for both frequency and intensity.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2016

A Test Resonator for Kagome Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibers for Resonant Rotation Sensing

We build ring resonators to assess the potentialities of Kagome Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibers for future applications to resonant rotation sensing. The large mode diameter of Kagome fibers permits to reduce the free space fiber-to-fiber coupling losses, leading to cavities with finesses of about 30 for a diameter equal to 15 cm. Resonance linewidths of 3.2~MHz with contrasts as large as 89\% are obtained. Comparison with 7-cell photonic band gap (PBG) fiber leads to better finesse and contrast with Kagome fiber. Resonators based on such fibers are compatible with the angular random walk required for medium to high performance rotation sensing. The small amount of light propagating in silica should also permit to further reduce the Kerr-induced non-reciprocity by at least three orders of magnitudes in 7-cell Kagome fiber compared with 7-cell PBG fiber.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Investigation of degenerate dual-pump phase sensitive amplifier using multi-wave model

Operation of a degenerate dual-pump phase sensitive amplifier (PSA) is thoroughly numerically investigated using a multi-wave model, taking into account high-order waves associated with undesired four-wave mixing (FWM) processes. More accurate phase-sensitive signal gain spectra are obtained compared to the conventional 3-wave model, leading to the precise optimization of the pump configuration in a dual-pump PSA. The signal gain spectra, as well as the phase sensitivity, are obtained and interpreted by investigating the dominant FWM processes in terms of corresponding phase matching. Moreover, the relation between dispersion slope and gain spectra is revealed, permitting the application-oriented arbitrary tailoring of the gain spectra by manipulating the dispersion profile and pump wavelength allocation.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Intensity and phase noise correlations in a dual-frequency VECSEL operating at telecom wavelength

The amplitude and phase noises of a dual-frequency vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (DF-VECSEL) operating at telecom wavelength are theoretically and experimentally investigated in detail. In particular, the spectral behavior of the correlation between the intensity noises of the two modes of the DF-VECSEL is measured. Moreover, the correlation between the phase noise of the radio-frequency (RF) beatnote generated by optical mixing of the two laser modes with the intensity noises of the two modes is investigated. All these spectral behaviors of noise correlations are analyzed for two different values of the nonlinear coupling between the laser modes. We find that to describe the spectral behavior of noise correlations between the laser modes, it is of utmost importance to have a precise knowledge about the spectral behavior of the pump noise, which is the dominant source of noise in the frequency range of our interest (10 kHz to 35 MHz). Moreover, it is found that the noise correlation also depends on how the spatially separated laser modes of the DF-VECSEL intercept the noise from a multi-mode fiber-coupled laser diode used for pumping both the laser modes. To this aim, a specific experiment is reported, which aims at measuring the correlations between different spatial regions of the pump beam. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with a theoretical model based on modified rate equations.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Frequency stabilization of the non resonant wave of a continuous-wave singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

We present an experimental technique allowing to stabilize the frequency of the non resonant wave in a singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (SRO) down to the kHz level, much below the pump frequency noise level. By comparing the frequency of the non resonant wave with a reference cavity, the pump frequency noise is imposed to the frequency of the resonant wave, and is thus subtracted from the frequency of the non resonant wave. This permits the non resonant wave obtained from such a SRO to be simultaneously powerful and frequency stable, which is usually impossible to obtain when the resonant wave frequency is stabilized.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Compact infrared continuous-wave double-pass single-frequency doubly-resonant OPO

We demonstrate a compact continuous-wave single-frequency doubly-resonant optical parametric oscillator (DRO) in a double-pass pump configuration with a control of the relative phase between the reflected waves. The nested DRO cavity allows single longitudinal mode operation together with low threshold and high efficiency. Thermal effects are managed by chopping the pump beam, allowing continuous tuning of the emitted wavelength. The infrared idler wave (3200-3800 nm) can be used for gas detection and the threshold pump power is compatible with diode pumping.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Influence of spin dependent carrier dynamics on the properties of a dual-frequency vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL)

The properties of a dual-frequency vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL), in which two linear orthogonal polarization modes are oscillating simultaneously, are theoretically investigated. We derive a model based on the ideas introduced by San Miguel et al. [San Miguel, Feng, and Moloney, Phys. Rev. A \textbf{52}, 1728 (1995)], taking into account the spin dynamics of the carriers inside the quantum well (QW) based gain medium of the dual-frequency VECSEL. This model is shown to succeed in describing quite a few properties of the dual-frequency VECSEL, such as the behavior of nonlinear coupling strength between the modes, the spectral behavior of intensity noises of the modes, and also the correlation between these intensity noises. A good agreement is found with experimental data. The variables associated with the spin dependent carrier dynamics can be adiabatically eliminated due to the class-A dynamical behavior of the considered laser which is based on a cm-long external cavity. This leads to a simple analytical description of the dynamics of the dual-frequency VECSEL providing a better understanding of the physics involved

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Phase Noise of the Radio Frequency (RF) Beatnote Generated by a Dual-Frequency VECSEL

We analyze, both theoretically and experimentally, the phase noise of the radio frequency (RF) beatnote generated by optical mixing of two orthogonally polarized modes in an optically pumped dual-frequency Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VECSEL). The characteristics of the RF phase noise within the frequency range of 10 kHz - 50 MHz are investigated for three different nonlinear coupling strengths between the two lasing modes. In the theoretical model, we consider two different physical mechanisms responsible for the RF phase noise. In the low frequency domain (typically below 500 kHz), the dominant contribution to the RF phase noise is shown to come from the thermal fluctuations of the semicondutor active medium induced by pump intensity fluctuations. However, in the higher frequency domain (typically above 500 kHz), the main source of RF phase noise is shown to be the pump intensity fluctuations which are transfered to the intensity noises of the two lasing modes and then to the phase noise via the large Henry factor of the semiconductor gain medium. For this latter mechanism, the nonlinear coupling strength between the two lasing modes is shown to play an important role in the value of the RF phase noise. All experimental results are shown to be in good agreement with theory.

physics.optics↗