Precise Photon Correlation Measurement of a Chaotic Laser

• Main Authors: Xiaomin Guo, Chen Cheng, Tong Liu, Xin Fang, Yanqiang Guo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-11-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: photon correlation; quantum optics; photon statistics; chaos; optical feedback; semiconductor lasers
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/22/4907
• ISSN: 2076-3417

The second order photon correlation <i>g</i>⁽²⁾(<i>&#964;</i>) of a chaotic optical-feedback semiconductor laser is precisely measured using a Hanbury Brown&#8722;Twiss interferometer. The accurate <i>g</i>⁽²⁾(<i>&#964;</i>) with non-zero delay time is obtained experimentally from the photon pair time interval distribution through a ninth-order self-convolution correction. The experimental results agree well with the theoretical analysis. The relative error of <i>g</i>⁽²⁾(<i>&#964;</i>) is no more than 5&#8241; within 50 ns delay time. The bunching effect and coherence time of the chaotic laser are measured via the precise photon correlation technique. This technique provides a new tool to improve the accuracy of <i>g</i>⁽²⁾(<i>&#964;</i>) measurement and boost applications of quantum statistics and correlation.