OBSERVATION OF MULTIMODE QUANTUM CORRELATIONS IN FIBER OPTICAL SOLITONS

Quantum correlations of photon numbers in different spectral component s of ultrashort optical solitons have been observed experimentally. Th ese correlations an crucial for the understanding and characterization of the internal quantum structure of soliton pulses and contribute si gnificantly to soliton squeezing by spectral filtering. The accessible information on the nonclassical state of the correlated spectral comp onents is discussed with the example of two modes. The method may be g eneralized to obtain a complete quantum description of a multimode fie ld. [S0031-9007(98)06700-3].