Photon counting with a loop detector

We propose a design for a photon-counting detector that is capable of resolving multiphoton events. The basic element of the setup is a fiber loop, which traps the input field with the help of a fast eleetro-optic switch. A single weakly coupled avalanche photodiode is used to detect small portions of the signal field extracted from the loop. We analyze the response of the loop detector to an arbitrary input field and discuss both the reconstruction of the photon-number distribution of an unknown field from the count statistics measured in the setup and the application of the detector in conditional-state preparation. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.