WEN Feng1, ZHANG Xun1**, XUE Xin-Xin2, SUN Jia1, SONG Jian-Ping1, ZHANG Yan-Peng1**
1Key Laboratory for Physical Electronics and Devices of the Ministry of Education, and Shaanxi Key Lab of Information Photonic Technique, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049 2Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Bantian, Longgang District, Shenzhen 518129
Abstract：We investigate the fourth-order spatial correlation properties of pseudo-thermal light in the photon counting regime, and apply the Klyshko advanced-wave picture to describe the process of four-photon coincidence counting measurement. We deduce the theory of a proof-of-principle four-photon coincidence counting configuration, and find that if the four randomly radiated photons come from the same radiation area and are indistinguishable in principle, the fourth-order correlation of them is 24 times larger than that when four photons come from different radiation areas. In addition, we also show that the higher-order spatial correlation function can be decomposed into multiple lower-order correlation functions, and the contrast and visibility of low-order correlation peaks are less than those of higher orders, while the resolutions all are identical. This study may be useful for better understanding the four-photon interference and multi-channel correlation imaging.
2014, Vol. 31 
