Work

Metrology of single-photon sources and detectors: a review

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: The generation, measurement, and manipulation of light at the single- and few-photon levels underpin a rapidly expanding range of applications. These range from applications moving into the few-photon regime in order to achieve improved sensitivity and/or energy efficiency, as well as new applications that operate solely in this regime, such as quantum key distribution and physical quantum random number generation. There is intensive research to develop new quantum optical technologies, for example, quantum sensing, simulation, and computing. These applications rely on the performance of the single-photon sources and detectors they employ; this review article gives an overview of the methods, both conventional and recently developed, that are available for measuring the performance of these devices, with traceability to the SI system.

Source: Optical Engineering

DOI: 10.1117/1.oe.53.8.081910

Authors: Christopher J. Chunnilall, Ivo Pietro Degiovanni, Stefan Kück, Ingmar Müller, Alastair G. Sinclair

Institutions: National Physical Laboratory, Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Federal Institute For Materials Research and Testing

Language: English

Topic: Quantum Information and Cryptography

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: European Association of National Metrology Institutes, European Commission, Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca

Awards: G3176226022, G4091348424