Optical detectors with single-photon sensitivity and large dynamic range would facilitate a variety of applications.Specifically,the capability of extending operation wavelengths into the mid-infrared region is highly...Optical detectors with single-photon sensitivity and large dynamic range would facilitate a variety of applications.Specifically,the capability of extending operation wavelengths into the mid-infrared region is highly attractive.Here we implement a mid-infrared frequency upconversion detector for counting and resolving photons at 3μm.Thanks to the spectrotemporal engineering of the involved optical fields,the mid-infrared photons could be spectrally translated into the visible band with a conversion efficiency of 80%.In combination with a silicon avalanche photodiode,we obtained unprecedented performance with a high overall detection efficiency of 37%and a low noise equivalent power of 1.8×10^(-17) W∕Hz1∕2.Furthermore,photon-number-resolving detection at mid-infrared wavelengths was demonstrated,for the first time to our knowledge,with a multipixel photon counter.The implemented upconversion detector exhibited a maximal resolving photon number up to 9 with a noise probability per pulse of 0.14%at the peak detection efficiency.The achieved photon counting and resolving performance might open up new possibilities in trace molecule spectroscopy,sensitive biochemical sensing,and free-space communications,among others.展开更多
基金National Key Research and Development Program of China(2018YFB0407100)Science and Technology Innovation Program of Basic Science Foundation of Shanghai(18JC1412000)+2 种基金Program for Professor of Special Appointment(Eastern Scholar)at Shanghai Institutions of Higher LearningNational Natural Science Foundation of China(11621404,11727812)Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project(2019SHZDZX01)。
文摘Optical detectors with single-photon sensitivity and large dynamic range would facilitate a variety of applications.Specifically,the capability of extending operation wavelengths into the mid-infrared region is highly attractive.Here we implement a mid-infrared frequency upconversion detector for counting and resolving photons at 3μm.Thanks to the spectrotemporal engineering of the involved optical fields,the mid-infrared photons could be spectrally translated into the visible band with a conversion efficiency of 80%.In combination with a silicon avalanche photodiode,we obtained unprecedented performance with a high overall detection efficiency of 37%and a low noise equivalent power of 1.8×10^(-17) W∕Hz1∕2.Furthermore,photon-number-resolving detection at mid-infrared wavelengths was demonstrated,for the first time to our knowledge,with a multipixel photon counter.The implemented upconversion detector exhibited a maximal resolving photon number up to 9 with a noise probability per pulse of 0.14%at the peak detection efficiency.The achieved photon counting and resolving performance might open up new possibilities in trace molecule spectroscopy,sensitive biochemical sensing,and free-space communications,among others.
