Photon statistical measurements on a semiconductor microlaser, obtained using single-photon counting techniques, show that a newly discovered spontaneous pulsed emission regime possesses superthermal statistical properties. The observed spike dynamics, typical of small-scale devices, is at the origin of an unexpected discordance between the probability density function and its representation in terms of the first moments, a discordance so far unnoticed in all devices. The impact of this new dynamics is potentially large, since coincidence techniques are presently the sole techniques capable of characterizing light emitted by nanolasers.

• Received 20 July 2019
• Revised 29 February 2020
• Accepted 4 May 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.101.063835