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Abstract

We theoretically analyze the noise transformation of a high-power continuous-wave light field that is reflected off a critical Kerr nonlinear cavity (KNLC). Our investigations are based on a rigorous treatment in the time domain. Thereby, realistic conditions of a specific experimental environment including optical intracavity loss and strong classical driving noise can be modeled for any KNLC. We show that, even in the presence of optical loss and driving noise, considerable squeezing levels can be achieved. We find that the achievable squeezing levels are not limited by the driving noise but solely by the amount of optical loss. Amplitude-quadrature squeezing of the reflected mean field is obtained if the KNLC's operating point is chosen properly. Consistently, a KNLC can provide a passive purely optical reduction of laser-power noise as experimentally demonstrated in Khalaidovski et al. [ Phys. Rev. A 80 053801 (2009)]. We apply our model to this experiment and find good agreement with measured noise spectra.