Abstract

Poisson noise behavior is generally observed in incoherent sources such as incandescent lamps and light-emitting diodes,¹ for which the average number of photons n emitted in a single mode of the optical field in a time τ (i.e., in a single spatial mode and polarization and in frequency range Δv such that Δvτ = 1) is much less than 1. However, for larger values of n, as in a high pressure gas discharge lamp, excess noise resulting from the beating of independent spontaneously emitted photons has been observed.² In this paper, measurements of the excess noise in SLDs are reported and the results explained in terms of a statistical model for amplified spontaneous emission. Implications for the design of fiber optic gyroscopes are also discussed.

© 1985 Optical Society of America