title: Vacuum Squeezing of Solids: Macroscopic Quantum States Driven by Light Pulses
abstract: Femtosecond laser pulses and coherent two-phonon Raman scattering were used to excite KTaO3 into a squeezed state, nearly periodic in time, in which the variance of the atomic displacements dips below the standard quantum limit for half of a cycle. This nonclassical state involves a continuum of transverse acoustic modes that leads to oscillations in the refractive index associated with the frequency of a van Hove singularity in the phonon density of states.
authors.affiliation: G. A. Garrett, A. K. Sood, R. Merlin, Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2099, and Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1120, USA. A. G. Rojo, Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1120, USA. J. F. Whitaker, Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2099, USA.
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Garrett
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Rojo
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sood
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Whitaker
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Merlin