2025/10/15 by Ross C. Schofield, Schofield, Ross C., Nathan R. Gemmell +12
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Frequency and Time Standards #Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies #FOS: Physical sciences #Optics (physics.optics) #Radio Wave Propagation Studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2510.13529
openalex publication_date 2025/10/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/17 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Here we report the measurement of thermal photon statistics from a semiconductor photon Bose-Einstein condensate operating just above the condensation threshold. We identify a regime where coherent, single mode emission occurs while still demonstrating significant photon bunching. Taking advantage of the photon bunching, along with the continuous-wave operation and high photon flux, we demonstrate optical range sensing using a photon Bose-Einstein condensate. We characterise the precision of the range measurement and analyse the dependence on the condensate's pump power and resulting coherence properties.