Sub-threshold giant noise amplification in synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillators.

Noise plays a very important role in synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillators (SPOPOs). For example, these devices have been suggested as tunable source of short pulses. However, it was shown that in the pulse compression regime the signal pulses may suffer from considerable noise-induced jitter. In the context of quantum optics, optical parametric oscillators have been suggested as a tool to amplify and detect quantum fluctuations. However, this requires very large amplification factors.