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arXiv · 2105.14354

Detecting an Itinerant Optical Photon Twice without Destroying It

Emanuele Distante·Severin Daiss·Stefan Langenfeld·Lukas Hartung·Philip Thomas·Olivier Morin·Gerhard Rempe·Stephan Welte
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Abstract

Nondestructive quantum measurements are central for quantum physics applications ranging from quantum sensing to quantum computing and quantum communication. Employing the toolbox of cavity quantum electrodynamics, we here concatenate two identical nondestructive photon detectors to repeatedly detect and track a single photon propagating through a $60\,\mathrm{m}$ long optical fiber. By demonstrating that the combined signal-to-noise ratio of the two detectors surpasses each single one by about two orders of magnitude, we experimentally verify a key practical benefit of cascaded non-demolition detectors compared to conventional absorbing devices.

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Emanuele Distante, Severin Daiss, Stefan Langenfeld, Lukas Hartung, Philip Thomas, Olivier Morin, Gerhard Rempe, Stephan Welte. 2021-05-29. Detecting an Itinerant Optical Photon Twice without Destroying It. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.126.253603

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