Single microwave photon detection in the micromaser

TL;DR

This paper proposes a theoretical microwave photon detector using a cascade amplifier with a 93% quantum efficiency, enabling reliable detection of low-energy microwave photons for quantum and particle physics applications.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel cascade amplifier design for microwave photon detection with high quantum efficiency, advancing the capabilities in microwave quantum measurement.

Findings

Optimal quantum efficiency of 93% demonstrated theoretically.

Detailed operation mechanism of the microwave photon detector.

Discussion of potential limitations and practical considerations.

Abstract

High efficiency single photon detection is an interesting problem for many areas of physics, including low temperature measurement, quantum information science and particle physics. For optical photons, there are many examples of devices capable of detecting single photons with high efficiency. However reliable single photon detection of microwaves is very difficult, principally due to their low energy. In this paper we present the theory of a cascade amplifier operating in the microwave regime that has an optimal quantum efficiency of 93%. The device uses a microwave photon to trigger the stimulated emission of a sequence of atoms where the energy transition is readily detectable. A detailed description of the detector's operation and some discussion of the potential limitations of the detector are presented.