Single-photon avalanche detectors (SPADs) are crucial sensors of light for many fields and applications. However, they are not able to resolve photon number, so typically more complex and more expensive experimental setups or devices must be used to measure the number of photons in a pulse. Here, we present a methodology for performing photon number-state reconstruction with only one SPAD. The methodology, which is cost-effective and easy to implement, uses maximum-likelihood techniques with a detector model whose parameters are measurable. We achieve excellent agreement between known input pulses and their reconstructions for coherent states with up to ≈10 photons and peak input photon rates up to several Mcounts/s. When detector imperfections are small, we maintain good agreement for coherent pulses with peak input photon rates of over 40 Mcounts/s, greater than one photon per detector dead time. For anti-bunched light, the reconstructed and independently measured pulse-averaged values of
We investigate the feasibility and performance of photon-number-resolved photodetection employing single-photon avalanche photodiodes (SPADs) with low dark counts. While the main idea, to split
- PAR ID:
- 10132112
- Publisher / Repository:
- Optical Society of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Optics Express
- Volume:
- 28
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 1094-4087; OPEXFF
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 3660
- Size(s):
- Article No. 3660
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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