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arXiv · 2310.12472

Resolving Photon Numbers Using Ultra-High-Resolution Timing of a Single Low-Jitter Superconducting Nanowire Detector

Gregor Sauer·Mirco Kolarczik·Rodrigo Gomez·Johanna Conrad·Fabian Steinlechner
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Abstract

Photon-number-resolving (PNR) detectors are a key enabling technology in photonic quantum information processing. Here, we demonstrate the PNR capacity of conventional superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors by performing ultra-high-resolution time-tagging of the detector-generated electrical pulses. This method provides a viable approach for PNR with high detection efficiency and a high operational repetition rate. We present the implementation of such a PNR detector in the telecom C-band and its characterization by measuring the photon-number statistics of coherent light with tunable intensity. Additionally, we demonstrate the capabilities of the detection method by measuring photon-number correlations of non-classical states.

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Gregor Sauer, Mirco Kolarczik, Rodrigo Gomez, Johanna Conrad, Fabian Steinlechner. 2023-10-19. Resolving Photon Numbers Using Ultra-High-Resolution Timing of a Single Low-Jitter Superconducting Nanowire Detector. https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.12472

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