2022/12/04 by Mingyuan Hong, Hong, Mingyuan, Ashe Miller +7
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Optical Polarization and Ellipsometry #Optics (physics.optics) #Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #Random lasers and scattering media
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2212.01734
openalex publication_date 2022/12/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The nature of light sources is defined by the statistical fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. As such, the photon statistics of light sources are typically associated with distinct emitters. Here, we demonstrate the possibility of producing light beams with various photon statistics through the spatial modulation of coherent light. This is achieved by the sequential encoding of controllable Kolmogorov phase screens in a digital micromirror device. Interestingly, the flexibility of our scheme allows for the arbitrary shaping of spatial light modes with engineered photon statistics at different spatial positions. The performance of our scheme is assessed through the photon-number-resolving characterization of different families of spatial light modes with engineered photon statistics. We believe that the possibility of controlling the photon fluctuations of the light field at arbitrary spatial locations has important implications for quantum spectroscopy, sensing, and imaging.