Measurement of photon correlations with multipixel photon counters

TL;DR

This paper reviews the use of multipixel photon counters (MPPCs) for photon number resolution, demonstrating their application in characterizing squeezed vacuum states and calibrating detector crosstalk in quantum optics experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a method to calibrate MPPC crosstalk using g^(2) measurements and showcases MPPCs for direct measurement of quantum states.

Findings

MPPCs can effectively measure the second order normalized intensity correlation function.

MPPCs enable direct detection of two-mode squeezing in squeezed vacuum states.

A calibration method for MPPC crosstalk based on g^(2) measurements is proposed.

Abstract

Development of reliable photon number resolving detectors (PNRD), devices which are capable to distinguish 1,2,3.. photons, is of a great importance for quantum optics and its applications. A new class of affordable PNRD is based on multipixel photon counters (MPPC). Here we review results of experiments on using MPPCs for direct characterization of squeezed vacuum (SV) states, generated via parametric downconversion (PDC). We use MPPCs to measure the second order normalized intensity correlation function (g^(2)) and directly detect the two-mode squeezing of SV states. We also present a method of calibration of crosstalk probability in MPPCs based on g^(2) measurements of coherent states.