1. Ultrahigh sensitivity detector for coherent light: the laser
- Author
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M. Bondiou, G. M. Stéphan, D. Kilper, Renaud Gabet, and Pascal Besnard
- Subjects
Physics ,Distributed feedback laser ,Active laser medium ,business.industry ,Far-infrared laser ,Physics::Optics ,Laser pumping ,Laser ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Round-trip gain ,law.invention ,Optics ,law ,Physics::Atomic Physics ,Laser power scaling ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry ,business ,Lasing threshold - Abstract
The amplification response of a laser to a weak, narrow line width signal is measured above the laser threshold and below the minimum injection power condition for locking. This signal has the same resonant frequency as the laser but a smaller line width which allows to separate its effect from that of the spontaneous emission in the laser output spectral density. Optical powers as low as −117 dBm or 0.2 photon per correlation time are experimentally detected. Phenomena are theoretically explained by using simple semiclassical formulas based on the laser transfer function.
- Published
- 2000
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