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AIP conference proceedings

Photon Number Resolving Detector At Telecommunication Wavelength

Miko Fujiwara

Published Jan 1, 2004• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A photon number resolving detector is a fundamental device for realizing quantum computing, to say nothing of improving quantum key distribution. It is considered possible to establish a multipurpose optical quantum computer by combining of a photon number resolving detector and non‐classical light such as a single photon or squeezed light in a feedback system. We are developing a photon number resolving detector at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.5 μm, in which the attenuation ratio of optical fiber is minimum. We adopt a InGaAs pin photodiode and a GaAs JFET in a charge integration amplifier, that is cooled to 4.2 K to reduce thermal noise and leak current.

DOI
10.1063/1.1834378

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A photon number resolving detector is a fundamental device for realizing quantum computing, to say nothing of improving quantum key distribution. It is considered possible to establish a multipurpose optical quantum computer by combining of a photon number resolving detector and non‐classical light such as a single photon or squeezed light in a feedback system. We are developing a photon number resolving detector at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.5 μm, in which the attenuation ratio of optical fiber is minimum. We adopt a InGaAs pin photodiode and a GaAs JFET in a charge integration amplifier, that is cooled to 4.2 K to reduce thermal noise and leak current.
We present a charge integration photon detector (CIPD) that enables the efficient measurement of photon number states at the telecom-fiber wavelengths with a quantum efficiency of 80% and a resolution less than 0.5 electrons at 1Hz sampling. The CIPD consists of an InGaAs pin photodiode and a GaAs JFET in a charge integration amplifier, which is cooled to 4.2K to reduce thermal noise and leakage current. The charge integration amplifier exhibits a low noise level of 470nV∕Hz1∕2. The dark count is as low as 500electrons∕h.
Standard linear optical detectors have a maximum sensitivity in the few hundreds of photons range, limited by amplifier noise. On the other hand, single photon detectors, which are the most sensitive detectors, are strongly nonlinear: One or more photons result in the same output signal. Photon number resolving (PNR) detectors, which have the ability to discriminate the number of photons in a weak optical pulse, are of great importance in the field of quantum information processing and quantum cryptography. Moreover, a PNR detector with large dynamic range can cover the gap between these two detection modes. Such detectors are greatly desirable not only in quantum information science and technology, but also in any application dealing with low light levels. In this work, we propose a novel approach to photon number resolving detectors based on spatial multiplexing of nanowire superconducting single-photon detectors. In the proposed approach, N superconducting nanowires, each connected in parallel to an integrated resistor, are connected in series. Photon absorption in a nanowire switches its bias current to the parallel resistor, forming a voltage pulse across it. The sum of these voltages, proportional to the number of absorbed photons, is measured at the output. The use of a cryogenic preamplifier with high input impedance for the read-out increases the linearity, the signal to noise ratio, and the speed. With this combination, we expect to be able to count up to few tens of photons with high fidelity, excellent timing resolution, and very high sensitivity in the telecommunication wavelength range.
The conventional optical detectors operate in a linear mode, but their sensitivity is limited due to the noise in the readout electronics. Single photon detectors, on the other hand, have the highest sensitivity, but are strongly nonlinear. Photon number resolving detectors, which can precisely determine the number of photons in weak optical pulses, are potential candidates to fill the gap between these two detection modes. We present the design of photon number resolving detectors with large dynamic range, based on spatial multiplexing of superconducting single photon detectors, with excellent timing resolution and very high sensitivity at the telecommunication wavelength range.
In quantum optical computing and quantum cryptography a very important problem is that of developing an efficient photon-number resolving detector. Such a device is critical for the development of linear optical quantum computing (LOQC) [1], and can be also used in quantum cryptography [2]. A recent paper claims to have demonstrated the operation of a superconducting, number-resolving photon detector, developed by a group at NIST [3]. However, this device operates with a quantum efficiency of only about 20%, and we show here that it cannot discriminate photon number, even in principal. However, the NIST device has a very low dark-count rate, much less than 1%, which means that it can quite efficiently discriminate against the absence of photons of particular numbers. We call such a device a number-discriminating non-photon detector. Interestingly enough, even though this detector cannot yield photon number—its ability to discriminate against photons of certain numbers allows it to be used, under suitable assumptions, to reconstruct the ensemble photostatistics of the incoming photon field. However, such a low-efficiency device cannot be used, say, in LOQC, where single-shot photon number discrimination is required.
This paper gives experimental results of quantum key distribution on a fiber-optic setup at a telecom wavelength of 1555 nm. A self-compensated two-channel optical circuit is used. Quantum key distribution was performed by coding the phase states of single photons radiated by a pulsed semiconductor laser in two alternative nonorthogonal bases. Specially developed single photon counters based on InGaAs: InP avalanche photodiodes were employed as high-sensitivity photodetectors. The results of investigation of the quantum efficiency, probability of afterpulses, and noise level for various operating modes of the detectors at temperatures from −40 to −60°C are given. A key distribution rate of 450 bit/s was obtained for a single-mode fiber-optic quantum communication channel between the receiver and sender 25 km long at a laser pulse clock frequency of 5 MHz and an average number of photons per pulse of about 0.2. For the achieved photodetector characteristics, the average number of errors in the quantum key did not exceed 3.7%.