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arXiv:2210.16005

Enhanced heralded single-photon source with a photon-number-resolving parallel superconducting nanowire single-photon detector

Lorenzo Stasi, Patrik Caspar, Tiff Brydges, Hugo Zbinden, Félix Bussières, Rob Thew

Published Oct 28, 2022• 1 citation
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Abstract

Heralded single-photon sources (HSPS) intrinsically suffer from multiphoton emission, leading to a trade-off between the source's quality and the heralding rate. A solution to this problem is to use photon-number-resolving (PNR) detectors to filter out the heralding events where more than one photon pair is created. Here, we demonstrate the use of a high-efficiency PNR superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) as a heralding detector for a HSPS. By filtering out higher-order heralding detections, we can reduce the $g^{(2)}(0)$ of the heralded single photon by $(26.6 \pm 0.2)\,\%$, or alternatively, for a fixed pump power, increasing the heralding rate by a factor of $1.363 \pm 0.004$ for a fixed $g^{(2)}(0)$. Additionally, we use the detector to directly measure the photon-number distribution of a thermal mode and calculate the unheralded $g^{(2)}(0)$. We show the possibility to perform $g^{(2)}(0)$ measurements with only one PNR detector, with the results in agreement with those obtained by more common-place techniques which use multiple threshold detectors. Our work shows that efficient PNR SNSPDs can significantly improve the performance of HSPSs and can precisely characterize them, making these detectors a useful tool for a wide range of optical quantum information protocols.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2210.16005

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Abstract Heralded single-photon sources (HSPS) intrinsically suffer from multiphoton emission, leading to a trade-off between the source’s single-photon quality and the heralding rate. A solution to this problem is to use photon-number-resolving (PNR) detectors to filter out the heralding events where more than one photon pair is created. Here, we demonstrate an improvement of a HSPS by heralding photons using a high-efficiency parallel superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (P-SNSPD) with PNR power. Specifically, we show a reduction in the g ( 2 ) ( 0 ) of the heralded single photon by ( 26.9 ± 0.1 ) % for a fixed pump power, or alternatively, an increase in the heralding rate by a factor of 1.368 ± 0.002 for a fixed g ( 2 ) ( 0 ) . We also demonstrate that such a PNR device can reveal thermal photon-number statistics of unheralded photons, which is enabled by our ability to construct its full input–output response function. These results are possible thanks to our P-SNSPD architecture that ensures non-latching operation with no electrical crosstalk, which are essential conditions necessary to obtain the correct photon-number statistics and also faster recovery times, therefore enabling fast heralding rates. These results show that our efficient PNR P-SNSPD architecture can significantly improve the performance of HSPSs and can precisely characterize them, making these detectors a useful tool for a wide range of optical quantum information protocols.
Multiphoton contributions pose a significant challenge for the realisation of heralded single-photon sources (HSPS) based on nonlinear processes. In this work, we improve the quality of single photons generated in this way by harnessing the photon-number resolving (PNR) capabilities of commercial superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). We report a 13 ± 0.4% reduction of g(2)(τ = 0), even with a collection efficiency in the photon source of only 29.6%. Our work demonstrates the first application of the PNR capabilities of SNSPDs and shows improvement in the quality of an HSPS with widely available technology.
Deterministic generation of single photons is essential for many quantum information technologies. A bulk optical nonlinearity emitting a photon pair, where the measurement of one of the photons heralds the presence of the other, is commonly used with the caveat that the single-photon emission rate is constrained due to a trade-off between multiphoton events and pair emission rate. Using an efficient and low noise photon-number-resolving superconducting nanowire detector we herald, in real time, a single photon at telecommunication wavelength. We perform a second-order photon correlation g2(0){g}^{2}(0)g2(0) measurement of the signal mode conditioned on the measured photon number of the idler mode for various pump powers and demonstrate an improvement of a heralded single-photon source. We develop an analytical model using a phase-space formalism that encompasses all multiphoton effects and relevant imperfections, such as loss and multiple Schmidt modes. We perform a maximum-likelihood fit to test the agreement of the model to the data and extract the best-fit mean photon number $\ensuremath{\mu}$ of the pair source for each pump power. A maximum reduction of $0.118\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.012$ in the photon g2(0){g}^{2}(0)g2(0) correlation function at $\ensuremath{\mu}=0.327\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.007$ is obtained, indicating a strong suppression of multiphoton emissions. For a fixed ${g}^{2}(0)=7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, we increase the single pair generation probability by 25%. Our experiment, built using fiber-coupled and off-the-shelf components, delineates a path to engineering ideal sources of single photons.
Photon-number-resolving (PNR) single-photon detectors are an enabling technology in many areas, such as photonic quantum computing, nonclassical light-source characterization, and quantum imaging.Here, we demonstrate high-efficiency PNR detectors using a parallel superconducting nanowire singlephoton-detector (P-SNSPD) architecture that does not suffer from crosstalk between the pixels and that is free of latching.The behavior of the detector is modeled and used to predict the possible outcomes given a certain number of incoming photons.We apply our model to a four-pixel P-SNSPD with a system detection efficiency of 92.5%.We also demonstrate how this detector allows reconstructing the photonnumber statistics of a coherent source of light, which paves the way towards the characterization of the photon statistics of other types of light source using a single detector.
Photon-number resolving (PNR) single-photon detectors are of interest for a wide range of applications in the emerging field of photon-based quantum technologies. Especially photonic integrated circuits will pave the way for a high complexity and ease of use of quantum photonics. Superconducting nanowire singlephoton detectors (SNSPDs) are of special interest since they combine a high detection efficiency and a high timing accuracy with a high count rate and they can be configured as PNR-SNSPDs. Here, we present a PNR-SNSPD with a four photon resolution suitable for waveguide integration operating at a temperature of 4 K. A high statistical accuracy for the photon number is achieved for a Poissonian light source at a photon flux below 5 photons/pulse with a detection efficiency of 22.7 ± 3 % at 900 nm and a pulse rate frequency of 76 MHz. We demonstrate the ability of such a detector to discriminate a sub-Poissonian from a Poissonian light source.
Photon-number resolving (PNR) single-photon detectors are of interest for a wide range of applications in the emerging field of photon based quantum technologies. Especially photonic integrated circuits will pave the way for a high complexity and ease of use of quantum photonics. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are of special interest since they combine a high detection efficiency and a high timing accuracy with a high count rate and they can be configured as PNR-SNSPDs. Here, we present a PNR-SNSPD with a four photon resolution suitable for waveguide integration. A high statistical accuracy for the photon number is achieved for a Poissonian light source at photon flux below \num{5} photons/pulse with a detection efficiency of 22.7$\pm$3.0 % at 900 nm and pulse rate frequency of 76 MHz. We demonstrate the ability of such a detector to discriminate a sub-Poissonian from a Poissonian light source. This demonstration shows the practical benefit of using a PNR detector in a quantum photonic circuit.