Heralding on the detection of zero photons
Cory M. Nunn, J. D. Franson, T. B. Pittman · Physical Review A · 2021
Although heralding signals in quantum optics experiments are typically based on the detection of exactly one photon, it has recently been theoretically shown that heralding based on the detection of zero photons can be useful in a number of quantum information applications. Here we experimentally investigate a technique for ``heralding on zero photons'' using conventional single-photon detectors. We illustrate how detector efficiency and dark count rates play a counterintuitive role in the ability to accurately detect zero photons, and we use a variant of the Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer to study the deleterious effects of limited detector efficiency when heralding on zero.