SQUEEZED-LIGHT GENERATION BY MEANS OF CASCADED 2ND-ORDER NONLINEARITY

This paper shows that the experimental configuration for self-diffract ion experiments can be applied to squeezed light (SL) generation. Nonl inear processes arising from cascading of the second order chi((2)) no nlinearity are responsible for the pump waves squeezing far from the p erfect phase matching points for second harmonic and sum frequency gen eration. The operation of squeezing is performed by interference of co -travelling waves which depending on phase matching conditions for the cascaded processes, are affected either by self-phase modulation (SPM ) (as in the nonlinear Mach-Zehnder interferometer) or by cross-phase modulation (CPM) (as in the type-II phase matched second harmonic gene ration scheme). Since large values of induced third order nonlineariti es chi(ind)((3)) are manifested in the presence of cascaded chi((2)), this scheme of SL generation may be of great practical interest. Diffr acted waves may also be used to create squeezed vacuum.