Efficient single-photon counting at 1.55 μm by means of frequency upconversion

We demonstrate efficient single-photon detection at 1.55 mum by means of sum-frequency mixing with a strong pump at 1.064 mum in periodically poled lithium niobate followed by photon counting in the visible region. This scheme offers significant advantages over existing InGaAs photon counters: continuous-wave operation, higher detection efficiency, higher counting rates, and no afterpulsing. We achieved single-photon upconversion efficiency of 90% at 21.6 W of circulating power in a resonant pump cavity with a 400-mW Nd:YAG laser. We observed high background counts at strong circulating pump powers due to efficient upconversion of pump-induced fluorescence photons. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.