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

Photon-number statistics and correlations with silicon photomultipliers

Alessia Allevi, Luca Nardo, Marco Ramilli, Maria Bondani

Published May 1, 2012• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

We present the characterization of a multi-pixel detector (SiPM, Hamamatsu) in the presence of dark-count and cross-talk effects. Our description yields a self-consistent calibration of the device, based on the light under investigation, which is used to evaluate shot-by-shot detected-photon numbers including dark-counts and cross-talk. The analysis allows us to reliably reconstruct the detected-photons statistics of different light states by taking into account the modifications introduced by detector features. Finally we quantify photon-number correlations in bipartite states and use the data to produce conditional states: only if dark-count and cross-talk effects can be neglected, the experimental results match theory.

DOI
10.1117/12.919414

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We investigate the possibility of using linear detectors that exhibit a response to dark just resolved from that corresponding to a single detected photon to reconstruct the photon-number statistics of pulsed fields containing sizeable numbers of photons per pulse. We demonstrate that by applying a self-consistent procedure to analyze the output pulses of such detectors, we can properly measure statistical distributions of the number of detected photons and photon number correlations. The lack of fulfillment of such minimal requirements impairs the possibility of reliable shot-by-shot determinations of photon numbers.
Optical parametric down-conversion (PDC) is a central tool in quantum optics experiments. The number of collected down-converted modes greatly affects the quality of the produced photon state. We use Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) number-resolving detectors in order to observe the photon-number distribution of a PDC source, and show its dependence on the number of collected modes. Additionally, we show how the stimulated emission of photons and the partition of photons into several modes determine the overall photon number. We present a novel analytical model for the optical crosstalk effect in SiPM detectors, and use it to analyze the results.
The search for optimal receivers endowed with photon-number-resolving capability has led us to consider Silicon photomultipliers for Quantum Optics experiments. By adopting an optimization procedure in order to reduce the spurious effects characterizing these detectors, we succeeded in detecting nonclassical correlations between the two parties of mesoscopic twin-beam states and in obtaining subPoissonian conditional states. These results put SiPMs forward for the implementation of Quantum Information and Communication protocols.
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