Figure 1. Compact squeezer experiment in progress.
Research at LIGO MIT is focused on increasing the sensitivity of advanced gravitational-wave detectors. These ultra-modern facilities operate at quantum limits of sensitivity, which requires special techniques to overcome the Standard Quantum Limit. The squeezed light injection is one of the most reliable ones, and it is routinely used for the past several observing runs of Advanced LIGO.
Squeezing is an advanced concept going beyond the classical description. Optical lasers which are sources of strong and coherent light are often used as a resource to convey information in its phase. As dictated by quantum mechanics, any uncertainty in the phase of light translates into the shot-noise limit. Squeezing the quantum state reaches beyond this limit by reducing the phase uncertainty.
Figure 2. Part of experiment layout for compact squeezer.
Quantum squeezed light is a valuable resource for any precision measurement experiment reaching standard limits of sensitivity. There is a strong interest in the community to develop a compact squeezed light source that could be used as a tool to push the sensitivity further into the quantum realm. There are also various proposals to use squeezed light for quantum repeaters for communication protocols.
LIGO MIT is proud of squeezed light technology routinely used in our lab, therefore compact squeezer project aims to make it more accessible. As a first step, we are planning to develop a compact shoe-box size continuous-wave fiber-coupled squeezer as a reliable quantum resource easy-to-use and ready-to-go. Technical limitations make procuring compact squeezer challenging, but incredibly rewarding.
Working on compact squeezer experiment: Hudson, Matt
