Counting near-infrared single-photons with 95% efficiency.
Single-photon detectors operating at visible and near-infrared wavelengths with high detection efficiency and low noise are a requirement for many quantum-information applications. Superconducting transition-edge sensors (TESs) are capable of detecting visible and near-infrared light at the single-photon level and are capable of discriminating between one- and two-photon absorption events; however these capabilities place stringent design requirements on the TES heat capacity, thermometry, and optical detection efficiency. We describe the fabrication and evaluation of a fiber-coupled, photon-number-resolving TES detector optimized for absorption at 1550 and 1310 nm wavelengths. The measured system detection efficiency at 1556 nm is 95 % +/- 2 %, which to our knowledge is the highest system detection efficiency reported for a near-infrared single-photon detector.
National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder CO 80305, USA. lita@boulder.nist.gov
Adriana E
AE
Lita
Aaron J
AJ
Miller
Sae Woo
SW
Nam
D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D010783:Photometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D017785:Photons; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011874:Radiometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014159:Transducers