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Optics Letters

Modified Klyshko method for an analog detector calibration

Pavel A. Prudkovskii, Daniil A. Safronenkov, G. Kh. Kitaeva

Published Sep 2, 2022• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We extend the absolute quantum efficiency (QE) calibration method, previously used only for photon counters, to analog detectors with a high dispersion of single-photon responses. Our approach is demonstrated on a reference-free measurement of a photomultiplier tube (PMT) cathode QE with 4% relative uncertainty. It involves not only measuring the biphoton field correlation function, but also a special approximation of the distribution of detector readings in order to determine the average number of photoelectrons and the average charge corresponding to a single photoelectron. Results of the calibration were verified in an independent experiment; the numbers of incident photons detected by the PMT and a single-photon counter are in good agreement.

DOI
10.1364/ol.473302

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We extend the absolute quantum efficiency (QE) calibration method, previously used only for photon counters, to analog detectors with a high dispersion of single-photon responses. Our approach is demonstrated on a reference-free measurement of a photomultiplier tube (PMT) cathode QE with 4% relative uncertainty. It involves not only measuring the biphoton field correlation function, but also a special approximation of the distribution of detector readings in order to determine the average number of photoelectrons and the average charge corresponding to a single photoelectron. Results of the calibration were verified in an independent experiment; the numbers of incident photons detected by the PMT and a single-photon counter are in good agreement.
A modified Klyshko method for standardless calibration of analog photodetector efficiencies is suggested and experimentally implemented. The method is based on the measurement of the number of incident photons using correlation properties of biphotons generated under spontaneous parametric downconversion, and on the determination of the mean number of discrete elementary responses of a photodetector by deconvoluting the statistical distribution of the output photocurrents. As an example, the generalized efficiency of an analog photomultiplier is measured as the ratio of the average number of elementary current responses to the average number of incident photons. The statistical properties of the elementary responses of an analog photodetector depend not only on the detector itself, but also on the parameters of the subsequent electronic circuit. Nevertheless, it has been shown that the generalized efficiency determined by this way allows one to calibrate the photon fluxes by the analog photodetector without involvement of any reference sources or detectors.
Single-photon detectors are widely used in modern quantum optics experiments and applications. Like all detectors, it is important for these devices to be accurately calibrated. A single-photon detector is calibrated by determining its detection efficiency; the common method to measure this quantity requires comparison to another detector. Here, we suggest a method to measure the detection efficiency of a single-photon detector without requiring an external reference detector. Our method is valid for individual single-photon detectors as well as multiplexed detectors, which are known to be photon number resolving. The method exploits the even-number photon-statistics of a nonlinear source, as well as the nonlinear loss of a single-photon detector that occurs when multiple photons are incident simultaneously. We have analytically modeled multiplexed detectors and used the results to experimentally demonstrate the calibration of a single-photon detector without the need for an external reference detector.
Absolute calibration can be realized by means of correlation photon which is generated by the parametric down conversion. The main difficulty lies in obtaining correlation information about photon flux when this method is applied to analog detector calibration process. A novel method of processing the photocurrent on the basis of detecting multimode spatial correlation is proposed. By converting the charge quantity contained in the photocurrent detected in a certain time interval into the photon counting, and by using double channels balance detection and measuring mean photon counts of each model to correct the dual channels fluctuations, the high accuracy calibration of quantum efficiency can be achieved. The photon fluxes of two channels are balanced by inserting an adjustable attenuator in one optical path. The cross section of pumping beam is comparable to the detection area to ensure three-wave colinearity, and the coherent area of the correlation photons is obtained by measuring pump beam waist and lens focus length. With the known detection area, coherence time and coherence area, the average photon number of each mode is computed. This process should be performed under the average photon number of each mode as a reference which could be used for the proportional scaling of equivalent photons of two channels. Based on this new approach, the absolute power responsivity of an InSb detector is calibrated at 3390 nm with correlated photon pairs at 631 and 3390 nm. The calibration procedure and experiments are described and the uncertainty of this method is analyzed. The results show a relative combination uncertainty of about 7.785% for this calibration method, which agrees well with the result independently obtained in the national photoelectronic metrology laboratory within a relative difference of about 3.6%. This result verifies that the quantum efficiency of an analog detector can be calibrated by the correlated photon method, which has potential applications in highly accurate radiometric calibration without external standards.
A method to measure the correlation function of a biphoton field, which does not require single-photon detectors and photocount coincidence schemes, has been proposed and experimentally approved. It is based on the statistical analysis of current data from analog detectors. On an example of the operation of a scheme with analog photomultiplier tubes in the signal and idler channels of degenerate parametric down conversion, it has been shown that this new approach allows one to obtain correlation function values coinciding with the results of the standard photon counting technique. It has been shown how the absolute values of photon numbers and radiation power in the signal channel of the down conversion scheme are determined from the measured correlation function. Analog detection can expand the spectral and dynamic ranges of electromagnetic radiation for the application of quantum optic technologies. A method for the reference-free measurement of the spectral sensitivity of an analog photosensor module has been demonstrated as the first example of application.
We realize and test in experiment a method recently proposed for measuring absolute quantum efficiency of analog photodetectors. Similar to the traditional (Klyshko) method of absolute calibration, the new one is based on the direct detection of two-mode squeezed vacuum at the output of a traveling wave OPA. However, in the new method, one measures the difference-photocurrent variance rather than the correlation function of photocurrents (number of coincidences), which makes the technique applicable for high-gain OPA. In this work we test the new method versus the traditional one for the case of photon-counting detectors where both techniques are valid.