High-fidelity spatially resolved multiphoton counting for quantum imaging applications

TL;DR

This paper introduces a high-fidelity, spatially resolved multiphoton counting method using an intensified camera, enabling accurate quantum state characterization with high illumination levels, advancing quantum imaging techniques.

Contribution

It presents a novel calibration-based approach for spatially resolved multiphoton detection that accounts for non-linearities, improving quantum state reconstruction accuracy.

Findings

Accurate reconstruction of photon statistics for coherent states.

Reliable operation at illumination levels up to one photon per event area.

Demonstrated classical Mandel and Fano parameters in reconstructed statistics.

Abstract

We present a method for spatially resolved multiphoton counting based on an intensified camera with the retrieval of multimode photon statistics fully accounting for non-linearities in the detection process. The scheme relies on one-time quantum tomographic calibration of the detector. Faithful, high-fidelity reconstruction of single- and two-mode statistics of multiphoton states is demonstrated for coherent states and their statistical mixtures. The results consistently exhibit classical values of Mandel and Fano parameters in contrast to raw statistics of camera photo-events. Detector operation is reliable for illumination levels up to the average of one photon per an event area, substantially higher than in previous approaches to characterize quantum statistical properties of light with spatial resolution.