Quantum jump photodetector for narrowband photon counting with a single atom

Using a single neutral Rb87 atom held in an optical trap, and “quantum jump” detection of single-photon-initiated state changes, we demonstrate a single-photon quantum jump photodetector (QJPD) with intrinsically narrow bandwidth and strong rejection of out-of-band photons, of interest for detecting weak optical signals in the presence of a strong broadband background. By analyzing fluorescence photon count distributions for the bright and dark states with and without excitation, we measure quantum efficiency of 2.9(2)×10−3, a record for single-pass quantum jump production, and signal-photon-unprovoked “dark jump” rate—analogous to the dark count rate of other detectors —of 3(10)×10−3jumps/s during passive accumulation plus 4.0(4)×10−3 jumps per readout, orders of magnitude below those of traditional single-photon detectors. Available methods can substantially improve QJPD quantum efficiency, dark jump rate, bandwidth, and tunability. Published by the American Physical Society 2024