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Optics Letters

Highly efficient single-photon detection at communication wavelengths by use of upconversion in reverse-proton-exchanged periodically poled LiNbO_3 waveguides

Carsten Langrock, Eleni Diamanti, Rostislav V. Roussev, Y. Yamamoto, M. M. Fejer, Hiroki Takesue

Published Jul 1, 2005• 321 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Conventional single-photon detectors at communication wavelengths suffer from low quantum efficiencies and large dark counts. We present a single-photon detection system, operating at communication wavelengths, based on guided-wave frequency upconversion in a nonlinear crystal with an overall system detection efficiency (upconversion + detection) exceeding 46% at 1.56 microm. This system consists of a fiber-pigtailed reverse-proton-exchanged periodically poled LiNbO3 waveguide device in conjunction with a silicon-based single-photon counting module.

DOI
10.1364/ol.30.001725

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Conventional single-photon detectors at communication wavelengths suffer from low quantum efficiencies and large dark counts. We present a single-photon detection system, operating at communication wavelengths, based on guided-wave frequency upconversion in a nonlinear crystal with an overall system detection efficiency (upconversion + detection) exceeding 46% at 1.56 microm. This system consists of a fiber-pigtailed reverse-proton-exchanged periodically poled LiNbO3 waveguide device in conjunction with a silicon-based single-photon counting module.
We demonstrate 1500 nm band single-photon detection with low dark-count noise and a potentially high efficiency, which may allow long distance and high-bit-rate quantum key distribution. By developing frequency upconversion devices based on periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides, which are specifically designed to use a pump wavelength longer than that of communication-band photons, we completely eliminate the dark-count noise caused by parasitic nonlinear processes in the waveguide. We observed an internal conversion efficiency as high as 40% and demonstrated scaling down to the single photon level while maintaining a background dark-count rate of 10(2)s(-1).
We demonstrate upconversion-assisted single-photon detection for the 1.55-μm telecommunications band based on a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide pumped by a monolithic PPLN optical parametric oscillator. We achieve an internal conversion efficiency of 86%, which results in an overall system detection efficiency of 37%, with excess noise as low as 10(3) counts s(-1). We measure the dark count rate versus the upconversion pump-signal frequency separation and find the results to be consistent with noise photon generation by spontaneous anti-Stokes Raman scattering. These results enable detailed design guidelines for the development of low-noise quantum frequency conversion systems, which will be an important component of fiber-optic quantum networks.
This paper describes the detection of single photons, which have been transmitted through standard fiber at the telecom wavelength of 1310 nm. Following transmission, the 1310-nm photon is up-converted to 710 nm in a periodical-poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) waveguide and then detected by a silicon-based avalanche photodiode (Si-APD). The overall detection efficiency of the detector is 20%. We have also characterized the sensitivity of the PPLN's efficiency to temperature and wavelength changes. We focused on the noise property of the up-conversion detector. Without classical channel co-propagation, the dark count rate is 2.2 kHz, which is lower than current up-conversion detectors by more than one order of magnitude. The up-conversion detector is then applied to a QKD system, which is characterized and is shown to have a very strong performance.
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.