Superconducting single-photon detector (SSPD) is a planar nanostructure patterned from 4-nm-thick NbN film deposited on sapphire substrate. The sensitive element of the SSPD is 100-nm-wide NbN strip. The device is operated at liquid helium temperature. Absorption of a photon leads to a local suppression of superconductivity producing subnanosecond-long voltage pulse. In infrared (at 1550 nm and longer wavelengths) SSPD outperforms avalanche photodiodes in terms of detection efficiency (DE), dark counts rate, maximum counting rate and timing jitter. Efficient single-mode fibre coupling of the SSPD enabled its usage in many applications ranging from single-photon sources research to quantum cryptography. Recently we managed to improve the SSPD performance and measured 25% detection efficiency at 1550 nm wavelength and dark counts rate of 10 s^-1. We also improved photon-number resolving SSPD (PNR-SSPD) which realizes a spatial multiplexing of incident photons enabling resolving of up to 4 simultaneously absorbed photons. Another improvement is the increase of the photon absorption using a λ/4 microcavity integrated with the SSPD. And finally in our strive to increase the DE at longer wavelengths we fabricated SSPD with the strip almost twice narrower compared to the standard 100 nm and demonstrated that in middle infrared (about 3 μm wavelength) these devices have DE several times higher compared to the traditional SSPDs.

Ultrathin NbN nanowires is the material of choice for superconducting single photon detectors (SSPD) due to the good efficiency, dark count rate and timing jitter at 1550 nm wavelength obtained. These performance parameters are achieved using nanowires a few nanometers thick and 100 nm wide patterned into a meander shape in order to achieve area coverage. The meander shape effectively makes the SSPD of a single very long nanowire in turn giving it a significant inductance which limits the maximum count rate of the detector. Recently, we demonstrated how one can exploit a cascade switch to the normal state of nanowires connected in parallel to significantly reduce the SSPD inductance and increase the signal amplitude. Here we present how one can configure SSPDs that uses multiple cascade switches to the normal state. We show how this principle can be used to expand the SSPD coverage area with a very limited increase in detector inductance with area. Finally we discuss our first results obtained with SSPD based on the multiple cascade switch principle, showing correct operation, increased operational bias range and increased signal pulse amplitudes.

Ultrathin NbN nanowires is the material of choice for superconducting single photon detectors (SSPD) due to the good efficiency, dark count rate and timing jitter at 1550 nm wavelength obtained. These performance parameters are achieved using nanowires a few nanometers thick and 100 nm wide patterned into a meander shape in order to achieve area coverage. The meander shape effectively makes the SSPD of a single very long nanowire in turn giving it a significant inductance which limits the maximum count rate of the detector. Recently, we demonstrated how one can exploit a cascade switch to the normal state of nanowires connected in parallel to significantly reduce the SSPD inductance and increase the signal amplitude. Here we present how one can configure SSPDs that uses multiple cascade switches to the normal state. We show how this principle can be used to expand the SSPD coverage area with a very limited increase in detector inductance with area. Finally we discuss our first results obtained with SSPD based on the multiple cascade switch principle, showing correct operation.

We introduce a novel SPAD device with high photon detection efficiency and good performances in terms of temporal resolution and dark count rate. The designed detectors are able to attain a PDE as high as 40% at a wavelength of 800 nm while keeping photon detection jitter below 100 ps. The device was fabricated with a suitable planar silicon technology process that allows the development of detector arrays.

A silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) is a matrix of Geiger-mode avalanche photodiodes (GM-APDs) connected in parallel. One of the main drawback in the SiPm is the low Photon Detection Efficiency(PDE) also due to the low geometrical fill factor of the microcells array. This paper reports on the analysis and simulation of the single floating field ring technique, applied to the junction termination of the single cell of a Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPm). A floating guard ring is made along the border of the single microcell and it is not connected to the cathodic contact. Even if the ring is not electrically connected to the main junction, it mitigates the variation of the electrical field at the main termination. The effect of the junction-to-ring distance is analytically investigated by using cylindrical coordinates and an optimal distance together with the optimal width is found. Results show that the single floating ring reduces the junction edge electric field by keeping constant the size of the microcell allowing, then, an improvement for the geometrical fill factor. Results are supported by TCAD simulations.

We are presenting the work progress and recent results in the development and construction of the photon counting receiver, which is prepared for the European Laser Timing experiment in space. It is an optical link prepared in the frame of the ESA mission Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space. The ultra short laser pulses will be used to synchronize the time scales ground to space with picosecond precision. To minimize the timing biases the photon counting concept of the space born receiver was selected. The requirements put on the photon counting receiver are quite challenging in terms of the long term detection delay stability, wide operation temperature range, extremely high background photon flux and others. Recently, the bread board version of the detector has been constructed and is under extensive test in our labs. The concept and construction will be presented along with the achieved device parameters.

We are presenting the design of an input optics of the single photon counting detector. This device is under construction in our lab and will be used in the European Laser Time (ELT) transfer space project. The main goal was to design an input optics, which is easy to manufacture and which will be suitable for space application. The narrow bandwidth optical filter of bandwidth of 3nm cantered at 532nm has to be used to reduce background photon flux. Such a filter has a narrow field of view in order of several degrees; however the entire optics must have larger field of view from 5° to at least 60° and must keep the detection timing delay, timing jitter and signal energy constant for different incident angles in the interval. To enlarge optics field of view the front aperture consists of ground glass, however the energy level behind ground glass is strongly angle dependent and together with increasing satellite distance the angle dependence is event higher. The three effective methods suitable for space applications of incident angles dependence reduction will be discused.

We are presenting the concept and preliminary design of modular multipurpose device for space segment: single photon counting laser altimeter, atmospheric lidar, laser transponder and one way laser ranging receiver. For all the mentioned purposes, the same compact configuration of the device is appropriate. Overall estimated device weight should not exceed 5 kg with the power consumption below 10 W. The device will consists of three main parts, namely, receiver, transmitter and control and processing unit. As a transmitter a commercial solid state laser at 532 nm wavelength with 10 mW power will be used. The transmitter optics will have a diameter at most of 50 mm. The laser pulse width will be of hundreds of picoseconds order. For the laser altimeter and atmospheric lidar application, the repetition rate of 10 kHz is planned in order to obtain sufficient number of data for a distance value computing. The receiver device will be composed of active quenched Single Photon Avalanche Diode module, tiny optics, and narrow-band optical filter. The core part of the control and processing unit including high precision timing unit is implemented using single FPGA chip. The preliminary device concept includes considerations on energy balance, and statistical algorithms to meet all the mentioned purposes. Recently, the bread board version of the device is under construction in our labs. The concept, construction, and timing results will be presented.

Over the past years an always growing interest has arisen about the measurement technique of time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC), since it allows the analysis of extremely fast and weak light waveforms with a picoseconds resolution. Consequently, many applications exploiting TCSPC have been developing in several fields such as medicine and chemistry. Moreover, the use of multianode PMT and of single photon avalanche diode arrays led to the development of multichannel acquisition systems, employed in even more applications. Since TCSPC basically consists of the measurement of the arrival time of a photon, a high resolution and high linearity time measurement block is of the utmost importance, and in order to realize multidimensional systems, it has to be integrated to reduce both cost and area. We have designed and fabricated a 4 channel fully integrated time-to-amplitude converter (TAC), built in 0.35 μm Si-Ge technology, characterized by a very good time resolution (less than 50 ps), low differential nonlinearity (better than 2% peak-peak and less than 0.1% rms), high counting rate (16 MHz), low and constant power dissipation (50 mW), and low area occupation (2.58x1.28 mm²). Moreover our measurements show a very little crosstalk between the converters integrated on the same chip; this feature together with low power and low area make the fabricated converter suitable for parallelization, so it can be the starting point for future large scale multi-channel acquisition chains.

Superconducting single-photon detector (SSPD) is patterned from 4-nm-thick NbN film deposited on sapphire substrate as a 100-nm-wide strip. Due to its high detection efficiency, low dark counts, and picosecond timing jitter SSPD has become a competitor to the InGaAs avalanche photodiodes at 1550 nm and longer wavelengths. Although the SSPD is operated at liquid helium temperature its efficient single-mode fibre coupling enabled its usage in many applications ranging from single-photon sources research to quantum cryptography. In our strive to increase the detection efficiency at 1550 nm and longer wavelengths we developed and fabricated SSPD with the strip almost twice narrower compared to the standard 100 nm. To increase the voltage response of the device we utilized cascade switching mechanism: we connected 50-nm-wide and 10-μm-long strips in parallel covering the area of 10 μmx10 μm. Absorption of a photon breaks the superconductivity in a strip leading to the bias current redistribution between other strips followed their cascade switching. As the total current of all the strips about is 1 mA by the order of magnitude the response voltage of such an SSPD is several times higher compared to the traditional meander-shaped SSPDs. In middle infrared (about 3 μm wavelength) these devices have the detection efficiency several times higher compared to the traditional SSPDs.

This paper describes a design and performance of a versatile all-digital time interval measuring system. The measurement method is based on an interpolation principle. In this principle the time interval is first roughly digitized by a coarse counter driven by a high stability reference clock and the fractions between the clock periods are measured by two Time-to-Digital Converter chips TDC-GPX manufactured by Acam messelectronic. Control circuits allow programmable customization of the system to satisfy many applications such as laser range finding, event counting, or time-of-flight measurements in various physics experiments. The system has two reference clocks inputs and two independent channels for measuring start and stop events. Only one 40 MHz reference is required for the measurement. The second reference can be, for example, 1 PPS (Pulse per Second) signal from a GPS (Global Positioning System) to time tag events. Time intervals are measured using the highest resolution mode of the TDC-GPX chips. The resolution of each chip is software programmable and is PLL (Phase Locked Loop) stabilized against temperature and voltage variations. The system can achieve a timing resolution better than 15 ps rms with up to 90 kHz repetition rate. The time interval measurement range is from 0 ps up to 1 second. The power consumption of the whole system is 18 W including an embedded computer board and an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen. The embedded computer controls the whole system, collects and evaluates measurement data and with the display provides a user interface. The system is implemented using commercially available components.

In the optical sensing context one of the main challenge is to design and implement novel techniques of sensing optimized to work in a lossy scenario, in which effects of environmental disturbances can destroy the benefits deriving from the adoption of quantum resources. Here we describe the experimental implementation of a protocol based on the process of optical parametric amplification to boost interferometry sensitivity in the presence of losses in a minimally invasive scenario. By performing the amplification process on a microscopic probe after the interaction with the sample, we can beat the losses detrimental effect on the phase measurement which affects the single photon state after its interaction with the sample, and thus improve the achievable sensitivity.

In this paper, we present Bragg reflection waveguides as a novel universal platform for reaching the phasematching of spontaneous parametric downconversion process in semiconductor materials. We have designed two different waveguide structures. The first one is based on AlGaN and it is able to produce spectrally uncorrelated photon pairs. The second one is based on AlGaAs and it allows us to generate entangled photon pairs with ultra-broad spectra. Spontaneous-parametric-downconversion and second-harmonic-generation experiments are presented.

A new mathematical and computational technique for calculating quantum vacuum expectation values of energy and momentum densities associated with electromagnetic fields in bounded domains containing inhomogeneous media is discussed. This technique is illustrated by calculating the mode contributions to the difference in the vacuum force expectation between opposite ends of an inhomogeneous dielectric non-dispersive medium confined to a perfectly conducting rigid box.

Fundamental laws of quantum mechanics impose that arbitrary quantum states cannot be perfectly cloned or amplified without introducing some unavoidable noise in the process. The quantum noise intrinsic to the functioning of a linear phase-insensitive amplifier can however be avoided by relaxing the requirement of a deterministic operation. Non-deterministic noiseless linear amplifiers that do not violate any fundamental quantum law are therefore possible and here we present the first experimental realization of a scheme that allows noiseless amplification of coherent states at the best level of effective gain and final state fidelity ever reached. This scheme, based on a sequence of photon addition and subtraction, and characterized by a significant amplification and low distortions, may become a useful tool for quantum communications and metrology, by enhancing the discrimination between partially overlapping quantum states or by recovering the information transmitted over lossy channels.

The emerging strategy to overcome the limitations of bulk quantum optics consists of taking advantage of the robustness and compactness achievable by the integrated waveguide technology. Here we report the realization of a directional coupler, fabricated by femtosecond laser waveguide writing, acting as an integrated beam splitter able to support polarization encoded qubits. This maskless and single step technique allows to realize circular transverse waveguide profiles able to support the propagation of Gaussian modes with any polarization state. Using this device, we demonstrate the quantum interference with polarization entangled states.

The quantum mechanical generalisation of random walks (called Quantum Walks) present us with a broader spectrum of possibilities compared to their classical counterparts. The aim of the presented study is to explore a new portion of this area by incorporating a new step in the process of the Quantum Walk unique to quantum mechanics: the measurement. Our focus lies in the characterising number of the recurrence behaviour of the walk (Polya-number). We observe the effect of the standard projective measurement, a yes-no measurement on the origin and the effect of different measurement schemes (periodic and random) on the definition and the numeric value of the Polya-number.

A strong control field coupling two empty states of a lambda system makes the medium transparent for a probe pulse. This phenomenon known as electromagnetically induced transparency is here modified by switching a weak microwave field coupling two lower states of the system. As a response to the control and microwave fields, the medium itself acts as a source of an electromagnetic wave which interferes with the incoming pulse. The properties of the net pulse leaving the sample, in particular its magnitude and multipeak shape, will be analyzed in detail, depending on the model parameters.

Two schemes of Doppler-free high-resolution velocity-selective optical-pumping atomic spectroscopy, named single-resonance optical pumping (SROP) and double-resonance optical pumping (DROP), are performed and characterized with room-temperature cesium vapor cells. Due to velocity-selective optical pumping from one hyperfine fold of ground state to another via one-photon excitation in SROP or cascade two-photon excitation in DROP and decay processes thereafter, the atomic population variation of one hyperfine fold of ground state is indicated by SROP and DROP spectra by using of the transmission of the probe laser which is usually frequency locked to a cycling hyperfine transition. As a result, SROP and DROP spectra often have flat background and higher signal-to-noise ratio. Therefore, SROP and DROP spectra are very useful for measurement of the dressed-state splitting of ground state with an alkali atomic vapor cell, precise measurement of hyperfine splitting of alkali atomic excited states, frequency references for laser frequency stabilization, two-color MOT, and so on.