Non-Gaussian states produced by close-to-threshold optical parametric oscillators: role of classical and quantum fluctuations

Quantum states with non-Gaussian statistics generated by optical parametric oscillators (OPO) with fluctuating parameters are studied by means of the kurtosis excess of the external field quadratures. The field generated is viewed as the response of a nonlinear device to the fluctuations of pump laser amplitude and frequency, crystal temperature, and cavity detuning, in addition to quantum noise sources. The kurtosis excess has been evaluated perturbatively up to the third order in the strength of the crystal nonlinear coupling factor and the second order in the classical fluctuating parameters. Applied to the device described in Opt. Expr. 13, 948 (2005), the model has given values of the kurtosis excess in good agreement with the measured ones.