Photon-counting and analog operation of a 24-pixel photon number resolving detector based on superconducting nanowires

Mattioli, F.; Zhou, Zili; Gaggero, A.; Gaudio, R.; Leoni, R.; Fiore, Andrea

doi:10.1364/oe.24.009067

Cited by 52 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Other ways to measure the photon number in a weak optical pulse are to use parallel detectors to output electrical pulses of different height as a function of the number of detectors transitioning to the normal state [13][14][15][16]. This technique requires the detectors to be operated at a much lower current than the critical current, thereby moving away from the optimum efficiency point.…”

Section: Detection Of the Photon Statistics In A Weak Optical Pulsementioning

confidence: 99%

Photon counting with photon number resolution through superconducting nanowires coupled to a multi-channel TDC in FPGA

Lusardi

Los

Gourgues

et al. 2017

Review of Scientific Instruments

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The paper presents a system for measuring photon statistics and photon timing in the few-photon regime down to the single-photon level. The measurement system is based on superconducting nanowire single photon detectors and a time-to-digital converter implemented into a programmable device. The combination of these devices gives high performance to the system in terms of resolution and adaptability to the actual experimental conditions. As a case of application, we present the measurement of photon statistics for coherent light states. In this measurement, we make use of 8th order single photon correlations to reconstruct with high fidelity the statistics of a coherent state with average photon number up to 4. The processing is performed by means of a tapped-delay-line time-to-digital converter architecture that also hosts an asynchronous-correlated-digital-counter implemented in a field programmable gate array device and specifically designed for performance optimization in multi-channel usage.

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Section: Detection Of the Photon Statistics In A Weak Optical Pulsementioning

confidence: 99%

Photon counting with photon number resolution through superconducting nanowires coupled to a multi-channel TDC in FPGA

Lusardi

Los

Gourgues

et al. 2017

Review of Scientific Instruments

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show abstract

“…However, the extremely complex structure and the ultra-low working temperature limit the applications of TES. The time-multiplexed detector (TMD) [25,26] and spatial-multiplexed detector [27][28][29] are another type of PNRDs based on the multiplexing technique. Compared with the superconducting single-photon detector, the spatial-multiplexed single-photon detector has a relatively simpler and more compact structure, lower cost, higher stability when operated at room temperature, and a wider range of practical applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum Calibration of Photon-Number-Resolving Detectors Based on Multi-pixel Photon Counters

Cai

Chen

et al. 2019

Applied Sciences

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In this paper, we reconstructed the positive operator-valued measure (POVM) of a photon-number-resolving detector (PNRD) based on a multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) by means of quantum detector tomography (QDT) at 791 nm and 523 nm, respectively. MPPC is a kind of spatial-multiplexing PNRD with a silicon avalanche photodiode (Si-APD) array as the photon receiver. Experimentally, the quantum characteristics of MPPC were calibrated at 2 MHz at two different wavelengths. The POVM elements were given by QDT. The fidelity of the reconstructed POVM elements is higher than 99.96%, which testifies that the QDT is reliable to calibrate MPPC at different wavelengths. With QDT and associated Wigner functions, the quantum properties of MPPC can be calibrated more directly and accurately in contrast with those conventional methods of modeling detectors.

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“…Other single-photon detectors [17][18][19] show desirable characteristics but are considered impractical for microscopy at present due to e.g. small sensitive areas and cryogenic operating temperatures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-photon Imaging with Silicon Photomultipliers

Modi

Turner

Podgorski

2019

Preprint

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Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are a class of inexpensive and robust single-pixel detectors with applications similar to photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). We performed side-by-side comparisons of recently-developed SiPMs and a GaAsP PMT for two-photon fluorescence imaging of neural activity. Despite higher dark counts, which limit their performance at low photon rates (<1/μs), SiPMs matched the signal-to-noise ratio of the GaAsP PMT at photon rates encountered in typical calcium imaging experiments due to their much lower pulse height variability. At higher photon rates and dynamic ranges encountered during high-speed two-photon voltage imaging, SiPMs significantly outperformed the GaAsP PMT.Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) detect light using a photocathode, which emits electrons upon photon absorption 2 . Emitted electrons are accelerated under high voltage in vacuum to strike a series of dynodes coated in a secondary emission material 3 . Collisions with the dynodes release additional electrons, amplifying the photon signal into a detectable current pulse. The highestsensitivity PMTs available for visible imaging use Gallium-Arsenide-Phosphide (GaAsP) photocathodes with high quantum efficiencies (QE; >40%), although these photocathodes degrade with light exposure. Alkali photocathodes are also used, which do not degrade substantially but are less sensitive. PMT output pulses have highly variable amplitudes 4 because they rely on a series of low-gain stochastic amplification steps. PMTs are the most commonly used single-pixel light detectors in microscopy.Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are light-sensitive semiconductor diodes to which a bias voltage is applied. Photon absorption generates electron-hole pairs, which are accelerated by the bias voltage, producing additional electron-hole pairs via impact ionization. At lower bias voltages, APDs operate in 'linear mode', in which each photon produces a pulse of current. At higher bias voltages, APDs operate in Geiger mode, in which runaway ionization produces a saturating signal, causing the APD to act as a photon-gated binary switch. In Geiger mode, additional simultaneously-arriving photons do not produce additional signal. The Geiger mode avalanche is quenched by active or passive circuits 5 , which cause the bias voltage to drop below breakdown then restore it, allowing another photon to be detected. Geiger mode APDs (also called SPADs) have excellent quantum efficiency (>80%) and lower pulse height variability than PMTs, but have small sensitive areas, making single SPADs inefficient for collecting the large etendue of emission light from scattering specimens.

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Photon-counting and analog operation of a 24-pixel photon number resolving detector based on superconducting nanowires

Cited by 52 publications

References 27 publications

Photon counting with photon number resolution through superconducting nanowires coupled to a multi-channel TDC in FPGA

Photon counting with photon number resolution through superconducting nanowires coupled to a multi-channel TDC in FPGA

Quantum Calibration of Photon-Number-Resolving Detectors Based on Multi-pixel Photon Counters

Two-photon Imaging with Silicon Photomultipliers

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