Objective Optical measurements are fundamental to experimental science and observations of nature. At the single photon level, superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are well-established as the gold standard in measurement, due to their near-unit efficiency, negligible noise and ultrafast response. Building SNSPD arrays and simultaneously extracting intensity, spectral and spatial resolution from a device at the single photon level will revolutionise astronomical measurements, spectrometry in chemistry and life sciences, and quantum imaging. Key to unlocking this potential is to marry concepts from detector tomography with robust high-yield detector fabrication, the integration of complementary optical technologies and low heat-load scalable readout schemes. QuESADILLA tackles these challenges head-on, with a series of experiments demonstrating the groundbreaking potential of quantum detector engineering. In contrast to engineering quantum states of light for metrology, QuESADILLA will shift that paradigm by engineering the quantum mechanical response of the detector itself. QuESADILLA introduces the concepts of a modal decomposition of the positive operator valued measure (POVM), and quantum-enhanced POVM engineering in low-light applications. To do so, arrays of SNSPDs in combination with lithographically-written etalons and dielectric coatings will be developed, in concert with state-of-the-art scalable approaches to large scale quantum tomography. QuESADILLA will exceed the state of the art in many areas: performing the first modal decomposition of detector tomography and the largest tomographic reconstruction of a quantum detector; the first demonstration of quantum detector engineering using nonclassical ancilla states; the first demonstration of etalon array reconstructive spectrometry with single photons; and exploit the fastest electronic shutter speed of any optical sensor to enable the highest dynamic range detection of continuous illumination. Fields of science engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsoptical sensorsengineering and technologymaterials engineeringcoating and filmsnatural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicssuperconductivitynatural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsphotons Keywords Superconducting detectors Programme(s) HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2021-STG - ERC STARTING GRANTS Call for proposal ERC-2021-STG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants Host institution UNIVERSITAET PADERBORN Net EU contribution € 1 844 350,00 Address WARBURGER STRASSE 100 33098 Paderborn Germany See on map Region Nordrhein-Westfalen Detmold Paderborn Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 844 350,00 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITAET PADERBORN Germany Net EU contribution € 1 844 350,00 Address WARBURGER STRASSE 100 33098 Paderborn See on map Region Nordrhein-Westfalen Detmold Paderborn Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 844 350,00
