AMPLITUDE-NOISE REDUCTION IN LASERS WITH INTRACAVITY NONLINEAR ELEMENTS

We consider lasers with intracavity nonlinear elements, e.g., two-photon absorption, second-harmonic generation, as a possible means to reduce the amplitude fluctuations in a laser. While amplitude squeezing up to 37% may be obtained for the internal field, only a modest amount of noise reduction (10% for two-photon absorption, effectively zero for second-harmonic generation) is found in the output field at the laser frequency. In the second-harmonic field an amplitude-noise reduction of 50% below the shot-noise level may be achieved. © 1990 The American Physical Society.