dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaPhoton counting statistics using a digital oscilloscope
| Authors | M. L. Martinez Ricci, J. Mazzaferri, A. V. Bragas, O. E. Martinez |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0611062 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0611062 |
| DOI | 10.1119/1.2742400 |
| Journal | Am. J. Phys. 75(8), pp. 707-712, 2007 |
Abstract
We present a photon counting experiment designed for an undergraduate physics laboratory. The statistics of the number of photons of a pseudo-thermal light source is studied in two limiting cases: much longer and much shorter than the coherence time, giving Poisson and Bose-Einstein distributions, respectively. The experiment can be done in a reasonable time using a digital oscilloscope without the need of counting boards. The use of the oscilloscope has the advantage of allowing the storage of the data for further processing. The stochastic nature of the detection phenomena adds additional value because students are forced to do data processing and analysis.
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"abstract": "We present a photon counting experiment designed for an undergraduate physics\nlaboratory. The statistics of the number of photons of a pseudo-thermal light\nsource is studied in two limiting cases: much longer and much shorter than the\ncoherence time, giving Poisson and Bose-Einstein distributions, respectively.\nThe experiment can be done in a reasonable time using a digital oscilloscope\nwithout the need of counting boards. The use of the oscilloscope has the\nadvantage of allowing the storage of the data for further processing. The\nstochastic nature of the detection phenomena adds additional value because\nstudents are forced to do data processing and analysis.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0611062",
"authors": [
"M. L. Martinez Ricci",
"J. Mazzaferri",
"A. V. Bragas",
"O. E. Martinez"
],
"categories": [
"physics.optics"
],
"doi": "10.1119/1.2742400",
"journal_ref": "Am. J. Phys. 75(8), pp. 707-712, 2007",
"title": "Photon counting statistics using a digital oscilloscope",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0611062"
},
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