The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is developing standards for single-photon detectors (SPDs), which are crucial for quantum technologies like quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation. SPDs are now widely used in research and industry, but lack formal standards for evaluation and calibration. NIST has published methods for measuring the efficiency of five SPDs, including one made at NIST, as a first step towards offering an official calibration service. The measurements are traceable to NIST’s primary standard for optical power meters, with uncertainties ranging from 0.70% to 1.78%. Future work may address standards for detectors measuring very low light levels.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2019/12/counting-photons-now-routine-enough-need-standards
Keywords: photon-counting, single-photon detectors, quantum standards, photon detection, optical communications
