Demonstrating higher-order nonclassical effects by photon-added classical states: realistic schemes

Detecting nonclassical properties that; do not allow classical interpretation of photoelectric counting events is one of the crucial themes in quantum optics. Observation of individual nonclassical effects for a single-mode field, however, has been so far practically confined to sub-Poissonian statistics and quadrature squeezing. We show that a photon-added classical (coherent or thermal) state exhibits generalized nonclassical features in all orders of creation and annihilation operators, thereby becoming a promising candidate for studying higher-order nonclassical effects. Our analysis demonstrates the robustness of these effects against nonideal experimental conditions. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America