Interferometric Quantum-Nondemolition Single-Photon Detectors

Two interferometric quantum-nondemolition (QND) devices have been proposed: (1) a polarization-independent device and (2) a polarization-preserving device. The prolarization-independent device works on an input state of up to two photons, whereas the polarization-preserving device works on a superposition of vacuum and single-photon states. The overall function of the device would be to probabilistically generate a unique detector output only when its input electromagnetic mode was populated by a single photon, in which case its output mode would also be populated by a single photon.