Abstract

We propose and show experimental evidence of a mechanism that is important in the amount of noise reduction that it achieves at low frequencies (<100 MHz) utilizing atomic vapors as the nonlinear medium.¹ The mechanism is based on the two-beam-coupling gain² experienced by the vacuum sidebands of a weak probe wave as it interacts with a strong degenerate pump wave in an atomic vapor. The mechanism leads to the amplification of intensity fluctuations of an initially shot-noise-limited probe field.

© 1992 Optical Society of America