Measuring vibrations using Doppler shifted frequency modulated continuous-wave LIDAR with single photons.

We demonstrate a (FMCW) light detection and ranging (LIDAR) system utilizing a (SNSPD) to measure vibrational spectra using reflected signals at the single-photon level. By determining the time-variant Doppler shift of the reflected probe signal, this system successfully reconstructs various audio signals, including pure sinusoidal, multi-tonal, and musical signals, up to 200 Hz, limited by the laser frequency modulation rate and the Nyquist sampling theorem. Additionally, we employ scanning galvo mirrors to perform 3D measurements and map audio signals from different regions in the scanned field of view.

Frequency modulated continuous wave and time of flight LIDAR with single photons: a comparison.

In this study, we compare the two prominent Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technologies: Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) and Time of Flight (ToF). By constructing a setup capable of performing both LIDAR methods at the single photon level using a Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detector (SNSPD), we compare the accuracy and investigate the dependence of the resulting images and accuracy on the signal power and the corresponding signal to noise ratio. We demonstrate that both LIDAR methods are able to reconstruct 3D environments with a signal-to-noise ratio as low as 0.

Temperature measurements in deployed optical fiber networks using single photon optical time domain reflectometry.

We demonstrate an approach to measure average temperature changes in deployed optical fiber networks using Optical Time Domain Reflectometry, OTDR, at the single photon level. In this article we derive a model relating the change in temperature of an optical fiber to the change in time of flight of reflected photons in the fiber in the range -50 → 400 °C. A setup is constructed to validate this model utilizing a pulsed 1550 nm laser and a Superconducing Nanowire Single Photon Detector, SNSPD.