Generation of 10-dB squeezed light from a broadband waveguide optical parametric amplifier with improved phase locking method

We report detection of 10.1 ± 0.2-dB squeezed light from a broadband periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide optical parametric amplifier (OPA). Based on our previous report, where a similar PPLN waveguide shows 8.3-dB squeezing [T. Kashiwazaki <i>et al</i>., Appl. Phys. Lett.122, 234003 (2023)10.1063/5.0144385], we reduce phase fluctuations and overall optical losses in the measurement system. In particular, we introduce a phase detection technique that does not require tapping a part of the squeezed light to get a phase locking signal. We use a phase-detection OPA seeded by a tapped probe and pump light before a squeezer OPA. This configuration breaks the conventional trade-off between generating a phase-locking signal with a high signal-to-noise ratio and suppressing the degradation of the squeezing level caused by optical tapping. With all these improvements, the phase fluctuation angle is reduced from 14 mrad to 9 mrad, and the total optical loss from 12% to 8%. Achieving more than 10 dB of squeezing by the broadband waveguide OPA is a significant step towards the realization of fault-tolerant ultra-fast universal optical quantum computation.