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Optics Express

Long-wavelength-pumped upconversion single-photon detector at 1550 nm: performance and noise analysis

Jason S. Pelc, Long Ma, Christopher R. Phillips, Qi-Fa Zhang, Carsten Langrock, Oliver Slattery, Xiao Hong Tang, M. M. Fejer

Published Oct 17, 2011• 242 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.1364/oe.19.021445

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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.
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).
Based on the technique of periodically poled lithium niobate waveguide, up-conversion single-photon detection at 1.064-μm is demonstrated. We have achieved a system photon detection efficiency of 32.5% with a very low noise count rate of 45 counts per second by pumping with a 1.55-μm-band single frequency laser using the long-wavelength pumping technique and exploiting volume Bragg grating as a narrow band filter. Replacing the volume Bragg grating with a combination of adequate dielectric filters, a detection efficiency of up to 38% with a noise count rate of 700 counts per second is achieved, making the overall system stable and practical. The up-conversion single-photon detector operating at 1.064 μm can be a promising robust counter and find usage in many fields.
Due to advantages of low dark-count rate, reduced dead-time, and room-temperature operation, single-photon upconversion detectors for the telecom band are gaining strong interest as an alternative to other single-photon counters. In this work, we investigate the spatial and spectral distribution of upconverted spontaneous parametric downconversion (USPDC) noise, which is the typical dominant noise source in short-wavelength-pumped single-photon upconversion detectors for 1.5 µm - 1.6 µm. Our upconversion detector relies on a bulk periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal and a 1064 nm intracavity pump system that spectrally translates the signal to the visible (~630 nm) where efficient, uncooled, and low dark-count Si based single-photon detectors operate. Experimental results show that the spectral and spatial distribution of the USPDC noise has a relatively broadband and radially modulated pattern that depends on the PPLN temperature, which is in good agreement with our numerical simulations. We also demonstrate that for narrow-linewidth 1575 nm signal photons, the dark-count rate can be significantly reduced by (1) using a phase-matched signal angle that corresponds to an upconverted output angle where the USPDC noise is at a "local minimum" and (2) applying a spatial filter (instead of an ultra-narrow bandpass filter) at the output. This simple spatial filtering technique resulted in a 14 dB dark-count rate reduction. Due to a corresponding decrease in the interaction length of the signal with the pump, the upconversion efficiency also decreased, but only with a 2.2 dB penalty.
We have demonstrated upconversion detection at the single photon level in the 2 μm spectral window using a pump wavelength near 1550 nm, a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguide, and a volume Bragg grating (VBG) to reduce noise. We achieve a system photon detection efficiency of 10%, with a noise count rate of 24,500 counts per second, competitive with other 2 μm single photon detection technologies. This detector has potential applications in environmental gas monitoring, life science, and classical and quantum communication.