Probing higher order correlations of the photon field with photon number resolving avalanche photodiodes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how high-speed photon number resolving avalanche photodiodes can measure higher order photon correlations, providing a compact tool for characterizing photon sources in quantum information science.

Contribution

It introduces a method using photon number resolving avalanche photodiodes to explore higher order photon correlations in various photon sources.

Findings

Successfully measured higher order photon correlations

Demonstrated sensitivity across different photon statistics

Proposed a compact tool for quantum source characterization

Abstract

We demonstrate the use of two high speed avalanche photodiodes in exploring higher order photon correlations. By employing the photon number resolving capability of the photodiodes the response to higher order photon coincidences can be measured. As an example we show experimentally the sensitivity to higher order correlations for three types of photon sources with distinct photon statistics. This higher order correlation technique could be used as a low cost and compact tool for quantifying the degree of correlation of photon sources employed in quantum information science.