CPM Seminar

Subcycle Quantum Optics

Denis Seletskiy

Department of Physics and Center for Applied Photonics
University of Konstanz

Recent advances in ultrafast laser technology and precision measurements have enabled direct sampling of electric field transients in the frequency window spanning from terahertz to mid-infrared with unprecedented sensitivity. We argue that the full power of the subcycle approach to optics is extracted in the statistical regime, where quantum features of the field can be accessed.

In this talk I review our first experiments establishing time-domain quantum optics. First, I present our measurements which directly sample vacuum fluctuations of the electric field [1,2] by means of ultra-broadband electro-optic effect. Local quantum statistics as well as the expectation value of the field can be non-destructively analyzed within a four-dimensional space-time volume defined by the gating pulse. In the next step, I demonstrate our recent results where we achieve manipulation and analysis of the nonclassical states of light on subcycle time intervals and with locked carrier-envelope phase. Application of the time-domain manifestation of the Heisenberg's uncertainty principle demonstrates substantial squeezing factors.

The combination of these results offers a novel experimental approach to subcycle quantum electrodynamics and motivates new avenues for quantum spectroscopy of condensed matter

[1] C. Riek et al., Science 350, 420 (2015).
[2] A. S. Moskalenko et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 263601 (2015).
[3] C. Riek et al., CLEO/QELS post-deadline paper JTh4A.6 (2016).