Single photon detection by cavity-assisted all-optical gain
Author(s)
Panuski, Christopher; Pant, Mihir; Heuck, Mikkel; Hamerly, Ryan M; Englund, Dirk R.
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We consider the free-carrier dispersion effect in a semiconductor nanocavity in the limit of discrete photoexcited electron-hole pairs. This analysis reveals the possibility of ultrafast, incoherent transduction and gain from a single photon signal to a strong coherent probe field. Homodyne detection of the displaced probe field enables an all-optical method for room-temperature, photon-number-resolving single photon detection. In particular, we estimate that a single photon absorbed within a silicon nanocavity can, within tens of picoseconds, be detected with ∼99% efficiency and a dark count rate on the order of kilohertz assuming a mode volume Veff∼10-2(λ/nSi)3 for a 4.5-μm probe wavelength and a loaded quality factor Q on the order of 104. Keywords: Nonlinear Dynamics; General Physics; Atomic, Molecular & Optical.
Date issued
2019-05Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer ScienceJournal
Physical Review B
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Citation
Panuski, Christopher, et al. "Single photon detection by cavity-assisted all-optical gain." Physical Review B, 99, 20 (May 2019): 205303 © 2019 American Physical Society. US.
Version: Final published version
ISSN
2469-9950
2469-9969