Approproximate Photocounting Statistics of Shot-noise Light with Arbitrary Spectrum

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Abstract
The photocounting statistics of shot-noise light have been studied extensively. Light exhibiting such statistical properties arises in photon-generation 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 two-parameter 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.