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

Calibration on the detection efficiency of the Si-APD and InGaAs-APD single-photon detectors by correlated photon pairs

Xueshun Shi, Kun Zhao, Changming Liu, Haidong Chen, Kunfeng Chen, Haiyong Gan

Published Feb 27, 2017• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrated calibration on the detection efficiency of Si-avalanche photodiode (APD) and InGaAs-APD singlephoton detectors by correlated photon pairs at 780 nm and 1550 nm, respectively. The correlated photons were generated by spontaneous frequency down-conversion in a periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate crystal (PPKTP) pumped by a pulsed fiber laser. The uncertainty of ~10-4 on detection efficiency was obtained for both single-photon detectors.

DOI
10.1117/12.2257323

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We demonstrated calibration on the detection efficiency of Si-avalanche photodiode (APD) and InGaAs-APD singlephoton detectors by correlated photon pairs at 780 nm and 1550 nm, respectively. The correlated photons were generated by spontaneous frequency down-conversion in a periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate crystal (PPKTP) pumped by a pulsed fiber laser. The uncertainty of ~10-4 on detection efficiency was obtained for both single-photon detectors.
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.
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.
We propose a method of single photon detection of infrared (IR) photons at potentially higher efficiencies and lower noise than allowed by traditional IR band avalanche photodiodes (APDs). By up-converting the photon from the IR, e.g. 1550 nm, to a visible wavelength in a nonlinear crystal, we can utilize the much higher efficiency of silicon APDs at these wavelengths. We have used a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal and a pulsed 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser to perform the up-conversion to a 631 nm photon. We observed conversion efficiencies as high as ∼ 80%, and demonstrated scaling down to the single photon level while maintaining a background of 3 ×s; 10−4 dark counts per count. We also propose a 2-crystal extension of this scheme, whereby orthogonal polarizations may be up-converted coherently, thus enabling complete quantum state transduction of arbitrary states.
We propose a method of single photon detection of infrared (IR) photons at potentially higher efficiencies and lower noise than allowed by traditional IR band avalanche photodiodes (APDs). By up-converting the photon from the IR, e.g. 1550 nm, to a visible wavelength in a nonlinear crystal, we can utilize the much higher efficiency of silicon APDs at these wavelengths. We have used a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal and a pulsed 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser to perform the up-conversion to a 631 nm photon. We observed conversion efficiencies as high as ∼ 80%, and demonstrated scaling down to the single photon level while maintaining a background of 3 ×s; 10−4 dark counts per count. We also propose a 2-crystal extension of this scheme, whereby orthogonal polarizations may be up-converted coherently, thus enabling complete quantum state transduction of arbitrary states.
The process of up-conversion is shown to enable superior single-photon detectors in the infrared, compared to InGaAs and germanium Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) (normally used for IR single photon detection). After up-converting an infrared photon to a visible one in a non-linear crystal-Periodically Poled Lithium Niobate (PPLN)-we use a silicon APD to efficiently detect the frequency up-shifted IR photon. We have demonstrated this process at the "high-intensity" level and at the single-photon level, where the up-converted state is effectively a superposition of the single photon Fock state and the vacuum state. We achieve an 80% conversion efficiency over the width of the pulse, and show that this process is coherent, a necessary ingredient for many applications.