Generation of continuous-wave bright-squeezed light

We discuss different approaches to the generation of bright amplitude-squeezed light using second-order nonlinear effects in optical cavities. A 0.2 mW beam at 1064 nm exhibiting a 4 dB squeezing has been generated using a phase-sensitive type-I parametric amplifier pumped by frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser. In applying frequency-doubling processes to the generation of amplitude-squeezed light, the appearance of parasitic parametric oscillation must be considered. This effect has been observed in a singly-resonant frequency doubler. We also describe recent developments in optical cavity design for doubly-resonant frequency doubling. Finally, we show theoretically that phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation in an optical cavity can be employed to generate a strong effective Kerr nonlinearity. This system appears promising for achieving optical bistability and for generating squeezed light of high power.