Photon number distributions of classical and non-classical light sources have been studied extensively, yet their impact on photoemission processes is largely unexplored. In this article, we present measurements of electron number distributions from metal needle tips illuminated with ultrashort light pulses with various photon quantum statistics. By varying the photon statistics of the exciting light field between classical (Poissonian) and quantum (super-Poissonian), we demonstrate that the measured electron distributions are changed substantially. Using single-mode bright squeezed vacuum light, we measure extreme statistics events with up to 65 electrons from one light pulse at a mean of 0.27 electrons per pulse—the likelihood for such an event equals 10⁻¹²⁸ with Poissonian statistics. By changing the number of modes of the exciting bright squeezed vacuum, we can tailor the electron number distribution on demand. Most importantly, our results demonstrate that the photon statistics is imprinted from the driving light to the emitted electrons, opening the door to new sensor devices and to strong-field optics with quantum light and electrons.

经典和非经典光源的光子数分布已被广泛研究，但它们对光电发射过程的影响在很大程度上尚未被探索。在本文中，我们介绍了使用各种光子量子统计数据对超短光脉冲照射的金属针尖的电子数分布进行的测量。通过改变经典（泊松）和量子（超泊松）之间激发光场的光子统计，我们证明测量的电子分布发生了很大的变化。使用单模明亮压缩真空光，我们测量了来自一个光脉冲的多达 65 个电子的极端统计事件，平均每个脉冲 0.27 个电子——根据泊松统计，此类事件的可能性等于 10 ⁻¹²⁸ 。通过改变激发明亮压缩真空的模式数量，我们可以根据需要定制电子数分布。最重要的是，我们的结果表明，光子统计数据从驱动光印记到发射的电子，这为新的传感器设备以及量子光和电子的强场光学打开了大门。