Titanium Superconducting Photon-Number-Resolving Detector

High-efficiency photon-number-resolving detectors have been developed using titanium-based transition-edge sensors. Device performances have been evaluated with respect to the response photon distribution, dark count, and timing jitter. In the analysis of the photon statistics, the observed detection probabilities were consistent with Poisson distributions. From a comparison of the measured distribution with theory, 98% detection efficiency was deduced at 850 nm. The dark count probability of the device is less than10⁻⁶, corresponding to a dark count rate of 0.6 Hz. The timing jitter is 25 ns, the best value ever reported (to our knowledge) in transition-edge sensors used for optical photon measurements.