PPLN Crystal Nonlinear Gain Measurements for Tabletop Waveguided Optical Parametric Amplification

Document #:

LIGO-T2500241-v4

Document type:

T - Technical notes

Abstract:

In order to increase LIGO's sensitivity to gravitational waves and detect a more diverse collection of astrophysical phenomena, a frequency-dependent quantum squeezing system is employed. This project aims to simplify the current squeezing method used in LIGO which uses an Optical Parametric Oscillator cavity. This method, Waveguided Optical Parametric Amplification (WOPA) generates a squeezed vacuum state via spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) produced from a single pass through a PPLN crystal. This is combined with an LO beam to squeeze it in the desired quadrature. In this preliminary report, we describe the progress made in taking nonlinear gain measurements of the SPDC process in order to calculate and optimize the expected level of squeezing.

Files in Document:

• Final Presentation (SURF_presentation.pdf, 1.2 MB)
• Final Report (Final_Report.pdf, 17.6 MB)
• Interim Report 1 (edited_interim_report1.pdf, 478.4 kB)

Other Files:

• presentation (SURF_presentation.pptx, 7.6 MB)

Topics:

• Basic R&D

Authors:

• Nora Dreslin
• Peter Carney
• Rana Adhikari

Keywords:

PPLN Crystal Nonlinear Gain Measurements WOPA Waveguide SURF25

Referenced by:

• LIGO-T2500396: SURF 2025 Final Projects