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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

High-efficiency single photon detection via frequency up-conversion

Aaron P. VanDevender, Paul G. Kwiat

Published Aug 5, 2003• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We propose a method of single photon detection of infrared (IR) photons at potentially higher efficiencies and lower noise than allowed by traditional IR band Avalanche Photodiodes (APD). By up-converting the photon from IR, e.g., 1550 nm, to a visible wavelength in a nonlinear crystal, we can utilize the much higher efficiency of visible wavelength APDs. We have used a nonlinear crystal -- Periodically Poled Lithium Niobate (PPLN) -- and a pulsed 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser to perform the up-conversion to a 631-nm photon. When properly quasi-phase-matched, PPLN provides a large enough second order nonlinear susceptibility that near unit conversion efficiency of the IR photon into the visible should be possible. We have been able to observe peak conversion efficiencies as high as 80%, and have demonstrated scaling down to the single photon level while maintaining a background of 3 x 10-4 dark counts/count. Since the PPLN only acts on one polarization of the single photon, we also propose a 2-crystal extension of this scheme whereby orthogonal polarizations may be up-converted coherently, thereby enabling complete quantum state transduction.

DOI
10.1117/12.487082

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We propose a method of single photon detection of infrared (IR) photons at potentially higher efficiencies and lower noise than allowed by traditional IR band Avalanche Photodiodes (APD). By up-converting the photon from IR, e.g., 1550 nm, to a visible wavelength in a nonlinear crystal, we can utilize the much higher efficiency of visible wavelength APDs. We have used a nonlinear crystal -- Periodically Poled Lithium Niobate (PPLN) -- and a pulsed 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser to perform the up-conversion to a 631-nm photon. When properly quasi-phase-matched, PPLN provides a large enough second order nonlinear susceptibility that near unit conversion efficiency of the IR photon into the visible should be possible. We have been able to observe peak conversion efficiencies as high as 80%, and have demonstrated scaling down to the single photon level while maintaining a background of 3 x 10-4 dark counts/count. Since the PPLN only acts on one polarization of the single photon, we also propose a 2-crystal extension of this scheme whereby orthogonal polarizations may be up-converted coherently, thereby enabling complete quantum state transduction.
We propose a method of single photon detection of infrared (IR) photons at potentially higher efficiencies and lower noise than allowed by traditional IR band avalanche photodiodes (APDs). By up-converting the photon from the IR, e.g. 1550 nm, to a visible wavelength in a nonlinear crystal, we can utilize the much higher efficiency of silicon APDs at these wavelengths. We have used a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal and a pulsed 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser to perform the up-conversion to a 631 nm photon. We observed conversion efficiencies as high as ∼ 80%, and demonstrated scaling down to the single photon level while maintaining a background of 3 ×s; 10−4 dark counts per count. We also propose a 2-crystal extension of this scheme, whereby orthogonal polarizations may be up-converted coherently, thus enabling complete quantum state transduction of arbitrary states.
We propose a method of single photon detection of infrared (IR) photons at potentially higher efficiencies and lower noise than allowed by traditional IR band avalanche photodiodes (APDs). By up-converting the photon from the IR, e.g. 1550 nm, to a visible wavelength in a nonlinear crystal, we can utilize the much higher efficiency of silicon APDs at these wavelengths. We have used a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal and a pulsed 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser to perform the up-conversion to a 631 nm photon. We observed conversion efficiencies as high as ∼ 80%, and demonstrated scaling down to the single photon level while maintaining a background of 3 ×s; 10−4 dark counts per count. We also propose a 2-crystal extension of this scheme, whereby orthogonal polarizations may be up-converted coherently, thus enabling complete quantum state transduction of arbitrary states.
The process of up-conversion is shown to enable superior single-photon detectors in the infrared, compared to InGaAs and germanium Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) (normally used for IR single photon detection). After up-converting an infrared photon to a visible one in a non-linear crystal-Periodically Poled Lithium Niobate (PPLN)-we use a silicon APD to efficiently detect the frequency up-shifted IR photon. We have demonstrated this process at the "high-intensity" level and at the single-photon level, where the up-converted state is effectively a superposition of the single photon Fock state and the vacuum state. We achieve an 80% conversion efficiency over the width of the pulse, and show that this process is coherent, a necessary ingredient for many applications.
Quantum information systems are commonly operated in conventional communication bands (1310 and 1550 nm) over an optical fiber to take advantage of low transmission loss. However, the detection and spectral measurement of single photons in these communication bands are limited due to high noise and low sensitivity of single photon detectors in the wavelength ranges. To demonstrate high efficiency detection and high sensitivity spectral measurement, we have implemented a single photon detector and a spectrometer based on frequency up-conversion technology. This detector and spectrometer uses a 5-cm periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide and a tunable pump laser around 1550 nm, to convert signal photons around 1310 to 710 nm. The converted photons are then detected by a silicon-based avalanche photodiode (APD). The overall detection efficiency of the single photon detector is as high as 32%, which is three times higher than commercial InGaAs APDs. The sensitivity of the spectrometer is measured to be −126 dBm, which is at least three orders-of-magnitude better than any commercial optical spectrum analyzer in this wavelength range.
We demonstrate the utility of frequency upconversion in a non-linear crystal for quantum information applications. By combining a bright “escort” beam with a signal photon inside of a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal, we are able to achieve near unit conversion efficiency. We use this conversion process to create high-efficiency infrared single-photon detectors by upconverting infrared photons to visible ones and using efficient silicon avalanche photo diodes to detect the upconverted photon. We have achieved a net system detection efficiency of 56%, far superior to previous methods for infrared photon detection. We also demonstrate the phase coherence of the upconversion process, which enables it to convert photonic qubits from one wavelength to another, potentially allowing quantum networks of disparate operating wavelengths to communicate efficiently. This quantum “transduction” feature is observed by upconverting photons passed between two unbalanced Michelson interferometers that create and measure time-bin qubits, similar to those used in many quantum cryptography systems, and verifying that the phase of the qubits is preserved. The Rabi oscillation-like behavior of upconversion is also demonstrated, allowing for the creation and manipulation of highly non-degenerate frequency qubits. These states may be used in conjunction with other degrees of freedom such as polarization, time-bin, or orbital angular momentum states to enlarge the usable single-photon Hilbert space and create a rich vocabulary for transmission of quantum information.
We propose and demonstrate a high efficiency broadband near infrared single-photon upconversion and detection with a broadband pump laser based on sum frequency conversion in the PPLN crystal. By using a pump laser centered at 1040 nm with a spectral bandwidth of 10 nm, the signal single-photons centered at 1562 nm with a broadband bandwidth up to 7.2 nm are frequency-converted from the near infrared to the visible regime. A maximum conversion efficiency of 18.8% is achieved, while the background noise is measured to be only 1.2 × 10−3 counts/pulse. The corresponding spectral linewidth of the upconverted photons is 0.2 nm. This scheme of broadband infrared single-photon upconversion and detection provides potential solutions in infrared laser ranging, broadband infrared imaging and quantum key distribution.