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Proceedings of the Physical Society

Dead-time corrections to the statistical distribution of photoelectrons

Gabriel Bédard

Published Jan 1, 1967• 75 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The corrections to the photocount distributions, due to dead-time effects, are evaluated by use of the time-interval probability density of the counts. The normalized cumulative distribution function J k ( T , τ), associated with the detection of fluctuating light beams during a counting time interval T , with a counter having a constant dead-time τ, appear naturally as a convenient quantity to be used in comparing experimental results with theoretical predictions. The quantities J k ( T , τ) obey a simple recurrence relation and are readily derived from the photocount distribution p ( k, T , τ). A general expression is derived for J k ( T , τ) and p ( k, T , τ) associated with the detection of fluctuating light beams. Typical cumulative distribution functions, relating to the detection of thermal light, are evaluated as functions of the degree of polarization of the light, of the average number of photocounts < n 0 > in the absence of dead-time effects and of the ratio τ/ T . The distributions J k ( T , τ) and p ( k, T , τ) relating to detection of laser light are also calculated in a typical case.

DOI
10.1088/0370-1328/90/1/316

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Soviet Journal of Quantum Electronics•Jan 31, 1985•0 citations
The corrections to the photocount distributions, due to dead-time effects, are evaluated by use of the time-interval probability density of the counts. The normalized cumulative distribution function J k ( T , τ), associated with the detection of fluctuating light beams during a counting time interval T , with a counter having a constant dead-time τ, appear naturally as a convenient quantity to be used in comparing experimental results with theoretical predictions. The quantities J k ( T , τ) obey a simple recurrence relation and are readily derived from the photocount distribution p ( k, T , τ). A general expression is derived for J k ( T , τ) and p ( k, T , τ) associated with the detection of fluctuating light beams. Typical cumulative distribution functions, relating to the detection of thermal light, are evaluated as functions of the degree of polarization of the light, of the average number of photocounts < n 0 > in the absence of dead-time effects and of the ratio τ/ T . The distributions J k ( T , τ) and p ( k, T , τ) relating to detection of laser light are also calculated in a typical case.
It is well known that photoelectric measurements yield information about the statistical behavior of fluctuating light beams. The probability of n photoelectrons being ejected, in a fixed time interval, from the photosensitive surface of the photoelectric detector, upon which the light beam is normally incident, is a linear (Poisson) transform of the probability density for the intensity of the beam. With the help of some plausible assumptions, the present analysis provides solutions to the problem of inverting the Poisson transform, thus determining the probability density for the intensity from experimentally obtained photocounting distributions. The effectiveness of the method is demonstrated by an actual inversion of a typical experimental counting distribution. The technique is of particular interest in connection with efforts to understand the statistical behavior of optical fields, especially of laser fields.
The paper deals with the modifications in photocount distributions due to dead-time following every registered count. In order to study the effects due to dead-time, the distribution of the interval between successive photocounts is studied. For the case of a constant dead-time, the mean count rate is derived using the dead-time neglected two-fold counting generating function. The result is also generalised to cover the case when the dead-time has a distribution with the different dead-times independently and identically distributed. In view of the complexity of the problem, a lower bound is obtained for the mean square number of photocounts in an arbitrary interval.
The problem of obtaining the probability density of the fluctuating light intensity from the knowledge of photocounting statistics, when the detectors have a finite dead time, is considered. The integral relation for the probability of registering nnn photocounts in the time interval TTT in the presence of a dead time $\ensuremath{\tau}$ is inverted, and an expression is obtained for the probability density of the fluctuating intensity of the incident light radiation. The method is illustrated with a few specific examples.
Exact forward photocounting distributions for a source of optical radiation with arbitrary statistics are obtained in the presence of photodetector dead time. In particular, we examine the counting and pulse-interval distributions that arise from amplitude-stabilized radiation, from chaotic radiation, and from a Van der Pol laser with arbitrary excitation. The exact dead-time-corrected Poisson distribution is graphically compared with a previous approximate result and with the uncorrected Poisson. Plots of the Bose–Einstein distribution clearly indicate the dramatic anti-bunching effects of the dead time in overcoming the inherent bunching of this distribution. A simplified approximate solution is also found. for the Van der Pol laser above threshold; this result is similar to light from an amplitude-stabilized source incident on a photodetector with a gaussian-distributed dead time. Information about photodetector dead-time variation can therefore be obtained either by using an amplitude-stabilized source or by properly choosing system parameters such that irradiance fluctuations are averaged out.
It is well known that the photocount distribution associated with the photoelectric detection of fluctuating light beams carries information about the probability density of the light intensity. In this paper, we present an exact solution to a problem of particular interest which arises in connection with the photoelectric detection of narrow-band Gaussian (thermal or pseudothermal) light, namely, the problem of determining the photocount distribution when the counting-time interval is not necessarily short compared to the coherence time of the light. The method developed in this paper is applied to the case where the spectral profile of the light is Lorentzian; it leads to an exact expression for the photocount generating function and it provides simple recurrence relations for the photocount distribution and for its factorial moments.
The asymmetry of photocount statistics in respect of the spatial and temporal coherence factors is demonstrated and explained. This asymmetry appears because of the of a counter receiving a non-Poisson photoelectron flux. A statistical model of an optical field, photoelectron flux, and counting flux is used in a computer study of the dependences of the distributions and moments of the number of counts in a given time interval on the ratio of the coherence factors. An explanation of the features of these dependences is provided. A determination is made of the range of conditions in which the asymmetry is significant. In particular, the asymmetry disappears in the case of a Poisson photoelectron flux and for a very short dead time.