Exploring the Photon-Number Distribution of Bimodal Microlasers with a Transition Edge Sensor
Exploring the Photon-Number Distribution of Bimodal Microlasers with a Transition Edge Sensor
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DOI：
10.1103/physrevapplied.9.064030
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发表时间：
2017-09
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
E. Schlottmann;M. Helversen;H. Leymann;T. Lettau;Felix Kruger;M. Schmidt;C. Schneider;M. Kamp;S. Hofling;J. Beyer;J. Wiersig;S. Reitzenstein
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文献类型：
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作者：
E. Schlottmann;M. Helversen;H. Leymann;T. Lettau;Felix Kruger;M. Schmidt;C. Schneider;M. Kamp;S. Hofling;J. Beyer;J. Wiersig;S. Reitzenstein
利用光子数分辨跃迁边缘传感器（TES）测量了两个微腔激光器的光子数分布。所研究的器件是双峰微激光器，具有类似的发射强度和光子统计相对于光子自相关。这两个高β微激光器的激光阈值附近的部分热和部分相干发射。在较高的泵浦功率下，微激光器A的强模发射泊松分布的光子，而弱模的发射是热的。相反，激光器B表现出双稳态，导致叠加的热分布和泊松分布。虽然标准的Hanbury Brown和Twiss实验无法区分激光A的简单热发射和激光B的模式切换，但TES允许我们测量光子数分布，这为潜在的发射过程提供了重要的见解。事实上，我们的实验数据和理论描述的主方程方法表明，TES是能够揭示微妙的影响，如时间模式切换的双峰微激光器。因此，我们的研究清楚地表明了通过光子数分辨传感器研究纳米光子器件的巨大好处和重要性。
A photon-number resolving transition edge sensor (TES) is used to measure the photon-number distribution of two microcavity lasers. The investigated devices are bimodal microlasers with similar emission intensity and photon statistics with respect to the photon auto-correlation. Both high-$\beta$ microlasers show partly thermal and partly coherent emission around the lasing threshold. For higher pump powers, the strong mode of microlaser A emits Poissonian distributed photons while the emission of the weak mode is thermal. In contrast, laser B shows a bistability resulting in overlayed thermal and Poissonian distributions. While a standard Hanbury Brown and Twiss experiment cannot distinguish between simple thermal emission of laser A and the mode switching of laser B, a TES allows us to measure the photon-number distribution which provides important insight into the underlying emission processes. Indeed, our experimental data and its theoretical description by a master equation approach show that TESs are capable of revealing subtle effects like temporal mode switching of bimodal microlasers. As such our studies clearly demonstrate the huge benefit and importance of investigating nanophotonic devices via photon-number resolving sensors.