Characterisation of a single photon event camera for quantum imaging

TL;DR

This paper presents a straightforward method to characterize the quantum efficiency and temporal resolution of single photon event cameras using photon pairs, aiding quantum imaging system evaluation.

Contribution

The authors introduce a novel, simple technique employing coincidence measurements to assess pixel efficiency and timing in quantum imaging cameras.

Findings

Measured average efficiency of 7.4% for TPX3CAM with image intensifier.

Achieved a temporal resolution of 7.3 nanoseconds.

Identified key error mechanisms in post-processing.

Abstract

We show a simple yet effective method that can be used to characterize the per pixel quantum efficiency and temporal resolution of a single photon event camera for quantum imaging applications. Utilizing photon pairs generated through spontaneous parametric down-conversion, the detection efficiency of each pixel, and the temporal resolution of the system, are extracted through coincidence measurements. We use this method to evaluate the TPX3CAM, with appended image intensifier, and measure an average efficiency of 7.4% and a temporal resolution of 7.3ns. Furthermore, this technique reveals important error mechanisms that can occur in post-processing. We expect that this technique, and elements therein, will be useful to characterise other quantum imaging systems.