Approproximate Photocounting Statistics of Shot-noise Light with Arbitrary Spectrum

Abstract . The photocounting statistics of shot-noise light have been studied extensively. Light exhibiting such statistical properties arises in photongeneration processes that involve a two-stage cascade of Poisson-based events, such as cathodoluminescence . Expressions for the photocounting distributions are complex because they depend on the overall mean of the distribution, the photodetector counting time, and the spectrum of the light . A simple twoparameter distribution, the Neyman Type-A (NTA), is shown to provide an excellent approximation to the photocounting statistics of shot-noise light with arbitrary spectral properties. The NTA distribution therefore plays the same role for shot-noise light that the negative-binomial distribution plays for chaotic light .