Detuning enhanced intracavity photon number stabilization in Raman lasers

Detuning the laser and the pump light from the atomic transitions in a three-level Raman laser can lead to a strong stabilization of the intracavity photon number. The corresponding Mandel Q parameter attains highly non-classical values very close to its optimum of Q=-1 and thus is significantly smaller than for the resonant case or the regularly pumped laser Q>- 1/2 . Subsequently we show that inhomogeneous Doppler broadening of the atomic lines does not drastically influence the non-classical behaviour of the intracavity field as long as the laser is operated sufficiently far above threshold.