title: Fiber-assisted detection with photon number resolution.
abstract: We report the development of a photon-number-resolving detector based on a fiber-optical setup and a pair of standard avalanche photodiodes. The detector is capable of resolving individual photon numbers and operates on the well-known principle by which a single-mode input state is split into a large number (eight) of output modes. We reconstruct the photon statistics of weak coherent input light from experimental data and show that there is a high probability of inferring the input photon number from a measurement of the number of detection events on a single run.
authors.affiliation: Clarendon Laboratory, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK. daryl.achilles@physics.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: Daryl
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Achilles
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Silberhorn
authors.forename: Cezary
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sliwa
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Banaszek
authors.forename: Ian A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Walmsley