Experimental observation of anomalous supralinear response of single-photon detectors

We demonstrate a direct single-source measurement of absolute nonlinearity of single-photon detectors with unprecedented accuracy. We discover a surprising supralinear behavior of single-photon avalanche diodes and show that it cannot be explained using known theoretical models. We also fully charac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2023-05
Main Authors: Hloušek, Josef, Straka, Ivo, Ježek, Miroslav
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anomalies
Avalanche diodes
Detectors
Light levels
Linearity
Medical imaging
Nanowires
Nonlinearity
Optical communication
Optical measurement
Photon avalanches
Photons
Sensors
Supralinearity
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Summary:We demonstrate a direct single-source measurement of absolute nonlinearity of single-photon detectors with unprecedented accuracy. We discover a surprising supralinear behavior of single-photon avalanche diodes and show that it cannot be explained using known theoretical models. We also fully characterize sub- and supra-linear operation regimes of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors and uncover the supralinearity under faint continuous illumination. The results identify new detector anomalies that supersede existing knowledge of nonlinear effects at the single-photon level.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2109.08347