Four-wave mixing: Photon statistics and the impact on a co-propagating quantum signal

We reconstruct the photon statistics of a single-photon source based on the stimulated four-wave mixing (FWM) process. We find that the statistics of the source goes from thermal, at a low power regime, to Poissonian, at a high power regime. We also study the impact of the FWM process on a co-propagating coherent quantum signal in a wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) lightwave system. The statistics of the quantum signal changes from Poissonian to thermal when a low power is used, and remains Poissonian for a higher power. A multithermal regime is also observed when a moderate power is used.