Stellenangebot vom 23. Januar 2023
The generation of squeezed states of light relies on light interaction in second-order nonlinear media, where periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate (PPKTP) crystals are the to-date best-performing material. The so-generated squeezed states of light are highly susceptible to optical loss. Thus, as few as possible optical elements are used in their beam path.
In an optical parametric amplifier, which contains the nonlinear crystal, the squeezed light is generated. The configuration with the lowest number of components would be using a PPKTP crystal formed and coated as an optical cavity. This configuration was tested before but was limited to fixed resonance frequencies of this cavity due to no available length tuning actuator of the cavity (see ref. below).
Controlling the optical path length in the PPKTP crystal would enable control of the frequency of the generated squeezed light. Thus, this could enable the use in experiments with predefined laser frequency, like in gravitational-wave detectors.
In the scope of this master thesis, different tuning mechanisms shall be tested and then applied to the highly efficient generation of squeezed light using a monolithic optical parametric amplifier, which has to be designed and characterized.
Your tasks
- Test of tuning capabilities of PPKTP crystals
- Mechanical and electric design as well as assembly and test of a monolithic optical parametric amplifier with actuators for the optical resonance frequency
- Integration into a squeezed light source to characterize the generated squeezed light
(Approximate work division: 40% laser lab work / 20% assembly of electric circuits / 40% computer design, simulation, and data evaluation with, e.g., Inventor, Eagle/MATLAB, Python, Gnuplot)
Contact
Literature
High-bandwidth squeezed light at 1550 nm from a compact monolithic PPKTP cavity. Optics Express 21 (11), S. 13572 - 13579 (2013)
