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IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics

Single-photon optical heterodyning

C.C. Davis

Published Jan 1, 1979• 14 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Optical heterodyning has been observed at the single-photon level by recording the sinusoidal variation in the probability for detection of a photoelectron from a photomultiplier tube illuminated with a FM laser and a local oscillator laser. The single-photon character of the heterodyne process was demonstrated by observation of beat signals at total power levels down to6 \times 10^{-15}W where the spacing between photons emitted from the source laser was\sim40 000times greater than their transit time through the apparatus.

DOI
10.1109/jqe.1979.1069878

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Optical heterodyning has been observed at the single-photon level by recording the sinusoidal variation in the probability for detection of a photoelectron from a photomultiplier tube illuminated with a FM laser and a local oscillator laser. The single-photon character of the heterodyne process was demonstrated by observation of beat signals at total power levels down to6 \times 10^{-15}W where the spacing between photons emitted from the source laser was\sim40 000times greater than their transit time through the apparatus.
Heterodyne interferometry uses beats produced by superposing two light waves with different frequencies at a photodetector. The output from the photodetector then contains a component at the beat frequency which can be processed to obtain information on changes in the optical path difference. We present experimental results which show that beats can be observed down to power levels at which the mean time interval between the arrival of photons at the photodetector is much greater than the transit time from the laser source to the detector and also when the mean time interval between photons is greater than the period of the beat. These results show that the beats are not due to the interference of one photon with another, but arise from a succession of single-photon events. It follows that measurements can be made even at extremely low photon fluxes by using homodyne detection and extending the integration time.
After reviewing recent work on multiphoton direct detection and single-photon heterodyne detection, we examine the behavior of a multiphoton absorption heterodyne receiver. Expressions are obtained for the detector response, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and minimum detectable power for a number of cases of interest. Receiver performance is found to depend on the higher order correlation functions of the radiation field and on the local oscillator (LO) irradiance. Although performance similar to that of the single-photon heterodyne receiver can theoretically be achieved, practical problems would appear to make this difficult. A physical interpretation of the process in terms of the absorption of monochromatic and nonmonochromatic photons is given. The double-quantum case is treated in particular detail; the results of a preliminary experiment are presented and suggestions for future experiments are provided.
In a number of optical heterodyne systems it may happen that the signal power is so low that only a few, or even fractions of, photons enter the receiver in a characteristic time interval. As the heterodyne receiver basically employs the beating effect, such intricate questions as “is there still a beating between the (many) local oscillator photons and the few return photons?” or “how can a single photon produce an intermediate frequency?” arise. We show that the semiclassical theory, which provides exact results as long as optical fields with an adequate classical description are used, is capable of answering those questions. The term “photon” must thereby be assigned its (semiclassically) correct meaning, which is an abbreviation for “discrete interaction of light and matter.” We illustrate our discussion by providing a numerical example related to a space-borne CO2 Doppler wind lidar instrument.
Photon heterodyning affords the opportunity to single out photon detection events at a designated timing in the otherwise elusive transient interference fringes of single photons. Albeit essentially a time-domain analogue of Young's two-slit interference experiment at a single-photon level, it must be borne out by experiment using true single-photon streams. More importantly, it presents a technical challenge even without a tangible screen unlike space domain. Here, we demonstrate single-photon self-heterodyne beats that are obtained by letting the nonclassical light field associated with a photon interfere with itself. This is made possible by splitting, folding and mapping point-by-point the otherwise only poorly correlated time-series data onto a virtual capture frame. Photon heterodyning is of significance in view of conceivable applications. In fact, it marks a great step forward in benefiting such applications that handle interfering light fields in the time domain. An unmatched immunity to dc noise at an extremely low light level opens up the avenue for single-photon interferometry and interferometric biometrics of a highly light-sensitive target. Super-resolution and quantum optical coherence tomography, which are based on the nonclassical nature of photons, are those which should take full advantage of the photon heterodyning technology. On the other hand, the potential of photon heterodyning is most likely to be manifest in the field of quantum information processing by implementing frequency-encoded photon states. Some of these examples will be discussed in more detail.
By constructing an experimental system, the heterodyne detection of the photon counting system is realized. The effects of photon counting rate, sampling rate, background light noise and beam mismatching angle on the single-photon heterodyne detection performance based on power spectrum averaging are studied experimentally. The results show that the power spectrum average results have a saturated signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at a certain count rate, and the saturation SNR increases with the increase of the count rate. As the sampling rate increases, a higher saturation SNR can be obtained. The local oscillator and signal light mismatch angles have the same effect on single photon heterodyne detection compared to linear detection. The research results in this paper have a promoting significance for the practical application of single-photon heterodyne detection technology.