Squeezed Light

The generation of nonclassical light has recently received a great deal of attention because three forms of it have now been observed in the laboratory: antibunched light, photon-number-squeezed (or sub-Poisson) light, and quadrature-squeezed light. These characteristics may, but need not, accompany each other in any given light source. Nonclassical light has been produced in experiments using resonance fluorescence, the Franck-Hertz effect, parametric interact ions, and semiconductor light sources. It is likely to be useful in providing new insights in various physical and biological processes, and in applications such as lightwave communications. Some of the characteristics, methods of generation, and expected uses of squeezed light will be addressed.