Heidelberg 2015 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 8: Quantum Optics II
Q 8.5: Talk
Monday, March 23, 2015, 15:30–15:45, C/HSO
Experimental investigations on photon statistics of a pseudothermal light source at 1300nm — •Simone Kuhn, Sébastien Hartmann, and Wolfgang Elsäßer — Institut für Angewandte Physik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
Already invented in 1956 by Martiensen and Spiller, pseudothermal light sources are nowadays widely used for fundamental coherence studies as well as for imaging applications, not only exploiting their high spatial incoherence but also their thermal-like 2nd order correlations. In this contribution, we present an experimental realization of a pseudothermal light source at the telecommunication wavelength of 1300nm, reaching ideal thermal light values for 2nd order correlations g(2)(0) = 2. By implementing a time-resolved photon-counting experiment, we can directly extract the probability distribution p(n) and subsequently g(2)(0) [1]. We observe significant changes of the photon statistics from incoherent (g(2)(0)=2) to coherent (g(2)(0) = 1) behavior when light from the pseudothermal source is strongly attenuated. Additionally a g(2)(0) reduction is unveiled depending on the spatial profile characteristics of the implemented pseudothermal source. The here discussed correlation reduction mechanisms point out the delicate operating conditions when applying pseudothermal sources.
[1] P. Koczyk, P. Wiewiór, and C. Radzewicz, Am. J. Phys. 64, 240-245 (1996)