Few-photon imaging at 1550 nm using a low-timing-jitter superconducting nanowire single-photon detector

H. Zhou; Y. He; L. You; S. Chen; W. Zhang; J. Wu; Z. Wang; X. Xie

doi:10.1364/oe.23.014603

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arXiv · 1506.07920

Few-photon imaging at 1550 nm using a low-timing-jitter superconducting nanowire single-photon detector

H. Zhou·Y. He·L. You·S. Chen·W. Zhang·J. Wu·Z. Wang·X. Xie

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Abstract

We demonstrated a laser depth imaging system based on the time-correlated single-photon counting technique, which was incorporated with a low-jitter superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD), operated at the wavelength of 1550 nm. A sub-picosecond time-bin width was chosen for photon counting, resulting in a discrete noise of less than one/two counts for each time bin under indoor/outdoor daylight conditions, with a collection time of 50 ms. Because of the low-jitter SNSPD, the target signal histogram was significantly distinguishable, even for a fairly low retro-reflected photon flux. The depth information was determined directly by the highest bin counts, instead of using any data fitting combined with complex algorithms. Millimeter resolution depth imaging of a low-signature object was obtained, and more accurate data than that produced by the traditional Gaussian fitting method was generated. Combined with the intensity of the return photons, three-dimensional reconstruction overlaid with reflectivity data was realized.

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BibTeX RIS

H. Zhou, Y. He, L. You, S. Chen, W. Zhang, J. Wu, Z. Wang, X. Xie. 2015-06-25. Few-photon imaging at 1550 nm using a low-timing-jitter superconducting nanowire single-photon detector. https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.23.014603

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