Coherence properties of squeezed light and the degree of squeezing

Certain two-time correlation functions of squeezed optical fields and their Fourier conjugates are investigated. These functions are related to the autocorrelation function and the spectral density of the photoelectric current that appears in measurements made of the squeezed light by a homodyne technique. Because the field is often assumed to contain a monochromatic carrier, it is only quasi-stationary, and modified quantum correlation functions, specially constructed to be time independent, are used to describe its properties. The symmetries of the corresponding conjugate spectral functions, which are not always spectral densities, are investigated. The concepts of homogeneous squeezing, inhomogeneous squeezing, and spectral component squeezing are introduced, and it is shown that the condition for cross-spectral purity, when satisfied, leads to homogeneous squeezing. A frequencydependent parameter called the degree of squeezing, which lies between 0 and -1 for a squeezed state and is simply related to photoelectric measurements, is introduced. These ideas are then applied to the squeezing produced in resonance fluorescence, in parametric downconversion, and in four-wave mixing, and the degrees of squeezing under different conditions are compared. © 1987, Optical Society of America.