Large-inductance superconducting microstrip photon detector enabling 10 photon-number resolution

Efficient and precise photon-number-resolving detectors are essential for optical quantum information science.Despite this,very few detectors have been able to distinguish photon numbers with both high fidelity and a large dynamic range,all while maintaining high speed and high timing precision.Superconducting nanostrip-based detectors excel at counting single photons efficiently and rapidly,but face challenges in balancing dynamic range and fidelity.Here,we have pioneered the demonstration of 10 true photon-number resolution using a superconducting microstrip detector,with readout fidelity reaching an impressive 98%and 90%for 4-photon and 6-photon events,respectively.Furthermore,our proposed dual-channel timing setup drastically reduces the amount of data acquisition by 3 orders of magnitude,allowing for real-time photon-number readout.We then demonstrate the utility of our scheme by implementing a quantum random-number generator based on sampling the parity of a coherent state,which guarantees inherent unbiasedness,robustness against experimental imperfections and environmental noise,as well as invulnerability to eavesdropping.Our solution boasts high fidelity,a large dynamic range,and real-time characterization for photon-number resolution and simplicity with respect to device structure,fabrication,and readout,which may provide a promising avenue towards optical quantum information science.