QUANTUM EFFECTS AT A DIELECTRIC INTERFACE

We formulate the quantum theory of light mixing at a dielectric interface. The system is treated as a four-port device with two incoming and two outgoing signals. The mixing of the signals is determined by classical wave theory and they are quantized according to a scheme devised by Carniglia and Mandel. We formulate the observables in terms of correlation functions between detection operators, which are related to the quantum states of the incoming beams. The correlation functions contain some nontrivial effects of the renormalization of the photon detection operators. In particular, we calculate the second order photon counting moments, which determine the photon correlations and the degree of sub-poissonian statistics. We consider especially the case when total internal reflection occurs and discuss its manifestations and the possibility of their experimental realization.