The transient statistical properties of a single-mode laser field are investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The physical system is a $Q$-switched He-Ne gas laser oscillating on the 6328-Å transition. The measurements are performed by photon-counting techniques, using the so-called linear method which enables resolving times to be in the nsec region. The effects of the photomultiplier and of the attenuators on the statistics are taken into account. The measurements are interpreted in terms of the available laser theories as well as in terms of a simple phenomenological model which attributes the statistical spread to the initial photon distribution, neglecting the stochastic forces in the course of the buildup. Finally, some of the approximations of the theories are discussed, and the sensitivity of a transient measurement is compared with that of a stationary-intensity-correlation measurement.

• Received 27 July 1970

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.3.1108