Third- and Higher-Order Intensity Correlations in Laser Light

Mario Corti, Vittorio Degiorgio

Cyrus D. Cantrell, Wallace Arden Smith

Yujiang Qu, Surendra Singh

Cyrus D. Cantrell, M. Lax, Wallace Arden Smith

We have calculated the third- and higher-order (multitime) cumulants of the intensity of single-mode laser light using the rotating-wave van der Pol (RWVP) model. Our results indicate a distinctly nonexponential time dependence of the cumulants slightly below threshold and an oscillatory time dependence somewhat above threshold. One can interpret this oscillatory behavior as showing that the larger fluctuations above the mean decay more rapidly than those below the mean. Measurements of the third-order intensity cumulants above threshold would be desirable to check for this behavior and to provide a more rigorous test of the RWVP model than the second-order intensity correlation.

Mario Corti, Vittorio Degiorgio

We present an experimental investigation of the third-order intensity correlations in the light from a single-mode intensity-stabilized He-Ne laser in the threshold region. Accurate results were obtained by utilizing a fast digital correlator operating in real time. The computation of the intrinsic third-order correlations requires also a knowledge of the second-order intensity correlation which was measured under the same operating conditions. The experimental data are in agreement with recent theoretical computations based on the usual Van der Pol model of the laser oscillator. A new definition of the intrinsic correlations, which seems more appropriate for the interpretation of the experimental results, is discussed.

Mario Corti, Vittorio Degiorgio

Abstract The third-order intensity correlation function of a single-mode laser beam has been measured with high accuracy near the laser threshold by using a fast digital correlator. The results are in good agreement with recent theoretical computations.