Towards on-site absolute calibration of single photon detectors with high accuracy*

Single photon detectors are ubiquitous in many protocols for quantum communications and quantum information processing. Many of these applications critically depend on precise knowledge of the detection efficiency of these detectors. Different methods for determining the efficiency of single photon detectors have been pursued including the use of transfer standard detectors and different sources of light. A method based on the use of a source of quantum correlated photon pairs provides means for realizing the absolute calibration of single photon detectors with high accuracy [1]. Given the nature of the generation process in the sources of photon pairs, every time a photon is detected, there is in principle absolute certainty that a second photon exists. This information provides a natural way for measuring the detection efficiency of a single photon detector in absolute terms with high accuracy [2]. We investigate the potential for implementing this calibration method based on a commercial source of quantum correlated photons for on-site calibration of single photon detectors without requiring any standard. We compare this calibration method with the calibration method based on transfer standard detectors using stable laser sources. We observe that while the efficiency of the source of quantum correlated photons directly affects the determination of the detector efficiency, the accurate calibration of the source could provide a path for making this method a viable way for realizing on-site absolute detector calibration.

 

[1] D. N. Klyshko, “Use of two-photon light for absolute calibration of photoelectric detectors,” Sov. J. Quant. Elect. 10, 1112–1116 (1980).

 

[2] S. V. Polyakov, and A. L. Migdall, “High accuracy verification of a correlated-photon- based method for determining photoncounting detection efficiency,” Opt. Express 15(4), 1390–1407 (2007)