Squeezing of radiation produced by the Hanle effect

Abstract

The quantum-mechanical features of radiation produced by the Hanle effect are examined. Squeezing characteristics of the field are calculated. The radiation field is found to exhibit considerable squeezing under a variety of externally controllable parameters such as the magnetic field strength, laser intensity, and pump polarization. The Zeeman coherences lead to squeezing, which is dependent on the direction of detection. Photon-counting measurements on the radiation from the forward Hanle effect are shown to provide a measure of the squeezing of the field.