Superthermal-light emission and nontrivial photon statistics in small lasers

Tao Wang (1) , Djeylan Aktas (1) , O. Alibart (1) , Eric Picholle (1) , Gian Piero Puccioni (2) , Sébastien Tanzilli (1) , Gian Luca Lippi (1)

1 INPHYNI - Institut de Physique de Nice
2 ISC - Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi [Firenze]

Photon statistical measurements on a semiconductor microlaser, obtained using single-photon counting techniques, show that a newly discovered spontaneous pulsed emission regime possesses superthermal statistical properties. The observed spike dynamics, typical of small-scale devices, is at the origin of an unexpected discordance between the probability density function and its representation in terms of the first moments, a discordance so far unnoticed in all devices. The impact of this new dynamics is potentially large, since coincidence techniques are presently the sole techniques capable of characterizing light emitted by nanolasers.

Domaines: Physique Quantique [quant-ph]; Optique / photonique

Tao Wang, Djeylan Aktas, O. Alibart, Eric Picholle, Gian Piero Puccioni, et al.. Superthermal-light emission and nontrivial photon statistics in small lasers. Physical Review A, 2020, 101 (6), pp.063835. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevA.101.063835⟩. ⟨hal-01614901⟩