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We present a practical calibration method of the detection efficiency (DE) of single photon detectors (SPDs) in a wide wavelength range from 480 nm to 840 nm. The setup consists of a GaN laser diode emitting a broadband luminescence, a tunable bandpass filter, a beam splitter, and a switched integrating amplifier which can measure the photocurrent down to the 100 fA level. The SPD under test with a fibre-coupled beam input is directly compared with a reference photodiode without using any calibrated attenuator. The relative standard uncertainty of the DE of the SPD is evaluated to be from 0.8% to 2.2% varying with wavelength (k = 1).

We demonstrate the measurement of detection efficiency, the probability for the successful detection of a single photon incident on a detector, in a wide wavelength range from 250 nm to 1000 nm. The method is based on the responsivity comparison of two detectors by using a tunable monochromatic light source at a radiant power controlled to the pico-Watt level. As the reference detector, a photodiode with a switched integrating amplifier is used, whose spectral responsivity is calibrated at a photo-current level of pico-Ampere. A fibre-based spatial filter is used to form a beam focus that is focused to a diameter of less than 100 µm at the detector under test. The typical uncertainty of the detection-efficiency measurement for a Si-based single photon avalanche photodiode is evaluated to be less than 1% as a relative standard uncertainty (k = 1), which is currently limited by the characteristics of the tunable source.

We describe two methods for evaluating the dead time of a time-to-amplitude converter (TAC). The dead time is obtained by measuring either the corresponding time interval in an oscilloscope trace or the relation between the single count rate and the coincidence count rate. Values for the TAC dead time are obtained in the range from 3.4 µs to 14.3 µs for the two methods with respective standard uncertainties of 2.9 × 10−8 s and 3.3 × 10−9 s. The TAC dead time is applied to the calibration of coincidence-counting measurements of optical transmission and photon-heralding efficiency.

This paper describes a novel non-contact laser-ultrasound system which is compact and has a high level of immunity to ambient vibration, based on the use of an optical fibre Fabry–Perot interferometer as an acoustic detector. The new optical acoustic detector was employed for measuring a high-frequency acoustic wave of small amplitude generated by a relatively low output power source using an erbium-doped fibre amplifier. Together with the characteristics of the proposed detector, the preliminary results of 80 MHz laser-ultrasound experiments on an aluminium film are described.

Section III (neutron measurements) of the Comite Consultatif des Rayonnements Ionisants, CCRI, conducted a key comparison of primary measurements of the neutron emission rate of an 241 Am-Be(α,n) radionuclide source. A single 241 Am-Be(α,n) source was circulated to all the participants between 1999 and 2005. Eight laboratories participated – the CIAE (China), CMI (Czech Republic), KRISS (Republic of Korea), LNMRI (Brazil), LNE-LNHB (France), NIST (USA), NPL (UK), and the VNIIM (Russian Federation) – with the NPL making their measurements at the start and repeating them near the end of the exercise to verify the stability of the source. Each laboratory reported the emission rate into 4π sr together with a detailed uncertainty budget. All participants used the manganese bath technique, with the VNIIM also making measurements using an associated particle technique. The CMI, KRISS, VNIIM, and later the NPL, also measured the anisotropy of the source although this was not a formal part of the comparison. The first draft report was released in May 2006 and having been discussed and modified by the participants and subsequently reviewed by the CCRI(III), the present paper is now the final report of the comparison.