Analysis of the possibility of analog detectors calibration by exploiting Stimulated Parametric Down Conversion

TL;DR

This paper explores using stimulated parametric down conversion to calibrate analog detectors at high photon fluxes, overcoming limitations of spontaneous methods in high-gain regimes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel calibration method leveraging stimulated SPDC to achieve higher photon flux calibration without the limitations of spontaneous SPDC.

Findings

Stimulated SPDC increases photon flux for detector calibration.

The method overcomes high-gain regime limitations of spontaneous SPDC.

Potential for more accurate calibration of analog photon detectors.

Abstract

Spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC) has been largely exploited as a tool for absolute calibration of photon-counting detectors, i.e detectors registering very small photon fluxes. In [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 23, 2185 (2006)] we derived a method for absolute calibration of analog detectors using SPDC emission at higher photon fluxes, where the beam is seen as a continuum by the detector. Nevertheless intrinsic limitations appear when high-gain regime of SPDC is required to reach even larger photon fluxes. Here we show that stimulated parametric down conversion allow one to avoid this limitation, since stimulated photon fluxes are increased by the presence of the seed beam.