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

Photon-number resolving detectors

Ondřej Haderka, Jan Peřina, Martin Hamar, Václav Michálek, Antonín Černoch, Jan Soubusta

Published Sep 24, 2010• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An overview of current commercial and emerging approaches to single-photon-sensitive detection is given. Special attention is devoted to the detectors providing photon-number resolution with respect to their application in quantum optics and quantum information. Besides detectors offering photon-number resolution intrinsically, also multiplexing detectors are treated. A comparison of the detector technologies is presented.

DOI
10.1117/12.882059

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Photon-number-resolving detectors are needed for a variety of applications including linear-optics quantum computing. Here we describe the use of time-multiplexing techniques that allow ordinary single-photon detectors, such as silicon avalanche photodiodes, to be used as photon-number-resolving detectors. The ability of such a detector to correctly measure the number of photons for an incident number state is analyzed. The predicted results for an incident coherent state are found to be in good agreement with the results of a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration.
Many quantum applications will benefit significantly from photon number resolving detection. However, photon number resolving detectors have been largely experimental devices implemented in laboratory settings. Recent advances in superconducting nanowire device fabrication and readout techniques have enabled the implementation of photon number resolution in widely deployable commercial single-photon detection systems. We will discuss progress in implementing photon number resolved detection with commercially produced superconducting nanowire single photon detectors via spatial multiplexing of independently instrumented detector elements and photon number dependent rise-time changes in single-element nanowire devices.
Photon number resolving detectors are the ultimate measurement of quantum optics, which is the reason why developing the technology is getting significant attention in recent years. With this arises the question of how to evaluate the performance of the detectors. We suggest that performance of a photon number detector can be evaluated by comparing it to a multiplex of on-off detectors in a practical scenario: conditional preparation of a photon number state. Here, both the quality of the prepared state and the probability of the preparation are limited by the number of on-off detectors in the multiplex, which allows us to set benchmarks that can be achieved or surpassed by the photon number resolving detectors.
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.
Detectors that can resolve photon number are needed in many quantum information technologies. In order to be useful in quantum information processing, such detectors should be simple, easy to use, and be scalable to resolve any number of photons, as the application may require great portability such as in quantum cryptography. Here we describe the construction of a time-multiplexed detector, which uses a pair of standard avalanche photodiodes operated in Geiger mode. The detection technique is analysed theoretically and tested experimentally using a pulsed source of weak coherent light.
Detectors that can resolve photon number are needed in many quantum information technologies. In order to be useful in quantum information processing, such detectors should be simple, easy to use, and be scalable to resolve any number of photons, as the application may require great portability such as in quantum cryptography. Here we describe the construction of a time-multiplexed detector, which uses a pair of standard avalanche photodiodes operated in Geiger mode. The detection technique is analysed theoretically and tested experimentally using a pulsed source of weak coherent light.