Quantum efficiency measurements by bidirectional coincidence counting of correlated photon pairs

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate a procedure for characterizing the quantum efficiency of a single-photon detector in the telecommunication wavelength band. Our procedure employs a bidirectional coincidence counting technique to distinguish optical component losses from the detection efficiency. The standard deviations of the measured quantum efficiencies were nearly identical to the standard deviations derived from a detection probability having a Poisson distribution.

A continuous broad-spectrum correlated photon source based on angle tuning of a BBO crystal

“…National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of America [2,3], National Physical Laboratory of UK [4,5], Istituto Elettrotecnico Nazionale of Italy [6], Institut National de Metrologie of France [7], National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology of Japan [8] and Anhui Institute of Optics and Machinery of Chinese Academy of Sciences [9][10][11]have successively researched calibration methods based on correlated photons. Lasers of different wavelengths have been used to pump KDP, BBO, LiIO3, PPLN, and other nonlinear crystals, and the quantum efficiency of Si single photon detector [12], photomultiplier tube [13], CCD [14], InGaAs APD [8] has been calibrated.…”

Quantum efficiency measurement of single-photon detectors using photon pairs generated in optical fibers

“…However, the photon pairs generated in fibers via SFWM by pulsed lasers, having the advantage of modal purity [10,11], have not been used to measure QE of SPDs. Moreover, the majority of absolute calibrations concerns the silicon avalanche photodiode-based SPDs, the direct efficiency measurement of InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode-based SPD has yet to be fully experimentally exploited [22]. In this paper, using the correlated signal and idler photon pairs in 1550 nm band, which are generated in 300 m dispersion shifted fiber (DSF) by a pulsed pump, we perform the QE measurement of a InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode-based SPD.…”

“…However, the photon pairs generated in fibers via SFWM by pulsed lasers, having the advantage of modal purity [10,11], have not been used to measure QE of SPDs. Moreover, the majority of absolute calibrations concerns the silicon avalanche photodiode-based SPDs, the direct efficiency measurement of InGaAs/InP avalanche photodiode-based SPD has yet to be fully experimentally exploited [22].…”

Photon number resolving detection with high speed and high quantum efficiency

“…In the metrological field, the TES was applied to a temperature sensor in a cryogenic radiometer for optical power determination [2]. In the application of the quantum efficiency (QE) measurement based on correlated photons, a low dark count of the superconducting detectors will reduce the uncertainty of the measurement [3].…”