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arXiv:0802.0346 · Journal of Modern Optics

Absolute calibration of analog detectors using stimulated parametric down conversion

G. Brida, Maria V. Chekhova, Marco Genovese, M.-L. Rastello, Ivano Ruo Berchera

Published Nov 11, 2008• 12 citations
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Abstract

Spontaneous parametric down conversion has been largely exploited as a tool for absolute calibration of photon counting detectors, photomultiplier tubes or avalanche photodiodes working in the Geiger regime. In this work we investigate the extension of this technique from very low photon flux of the photon counting regime to the absolute calibration of analog photodetectors at higher photon flux. Moving towards a higher photon rate, i.e. at a high gain regime, the spontaneous parametric down conversion shows the intrinsic limitations of the method, while the stimulated parametric down conversion process, where a seed beam is properly injected into the crystal in order to increase the photon generation rate in the conjugate arm, allows us to work around this problem. A preliminary uncertainty budget is discussed.

DOI
10.1080/09500340802318317

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Spontaneous parametric down conversion has been largely exploited as a tool for absolute calibration of photon counting detectors, photomultiplier tubes or avalanche photodiodes working in the Geiger regime. In this work we investigate the extension of this technique from very low photon flux of the photon counting regime to the absolute calibration of analog photodetectors at higher photon flux. Moving towards a higher photon rate, i.e. at a high gain regime, the spontaneous parametric down conversion shows the intrinsic limitations of the method, while the stimulated parametric down conversion process, where a seed beam is properly injected into the crystal in order to increase the photon generation rate in the conjugate arm, allows us to work around this problem. A preliminary uncertainty budget is discussed.
Spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) has been largely exploited as a tool for absolute calibration of photon-counting detectors, i.e detectors registering very small photon fluxes. In [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 23, 2185 (2006)] we derived a method for absolute calibration of analog detectors using SPDC emission at higher photon fluxes, where the beam is seen as a continuum by the detector. Nevertheless intrinsic limitations appear when high-gain regime of SPDC is required to reach even larger photon fluxes. Here we show that stimulated parametric down conversion allow one to avoid this limitation, since stimulated photon fluxes are increased by the presence of the seed beam.
We present a scheme based on the use of bright entangled twin beams for the calibration of analog photodiodes, providing an extension of the schemes for calibrating photon-counting detectors with photon pairs. Previous proposals for the calibration of analog photodiodes with entangled beams are based on a stimulated parametric process operating in the low-gain regime. We start by showing that in those proposals it is necessary to know the exact value of the gain as any error in estimating it will lead to an error in the calibration of the quantum efficiency. We then introduce a technique that is independent of the gain, thus eliminating the uncertainty introduced from errors in estimating the gain or experimental fluctuations of parameters that affect the gain. A proof of principle implementation of this technique using bright twin beams obtained from a four-wave mixing process in rubidium vapor shows its viability for the calibration of analog photodiodes.
A new method of absolute calibration of photodetectors based on a nonclassical effect in nonlinear optics is discussed. The combined influence of a monochromatic flux of pump photons and quantum vacuum noise on a nonlinear crystal with no center of symmetry results in the appearance of rigorously correlated pairs of photons with continuous spectral distribution in the spontaneous parametric scattering of light (spontaneous parametric downconversion) process. The presence of an optical field in a broad spectral range created by the two-photon states (biphotons) makes it possible to develop a new method of measuring the spectral distribution of the absolute value of the quantum efficiency of photodetectors, both in photon counting and in analog regimes, that does not use any calibrated standard light sources (étalons). The feasibility of the method is demonstrated on different types of photomultiplier tube.
A new method of absolute calibration of photodetector sensitivity based on spontaneous parametric down\|conversion(SPDC) biphoton field is described.The process of SPDC is studied theoretically.The single photon detection probability and two\|photon coincidence probability are derived and the calibration principle for photodetectors is explained.An experimental system has been set up.The sensitivity of a photon\|counting photomultiplier tube was measured,and the results were compared with those obtained using conventional method.