Number-resolved photocounter for propagating microwave mode

Detectors of propagating microwave photons have recently been realized using superconducting circuits. However a number-resolved photocounter is still missing. In this letter, we demonstrate a single-shot counter for propagating microwave photons that can resolve up to \(3\) photons. It is based on a pumped Josephson Ring Modulator that can catch an arbitrary propagating mode by frequency conversion and store its quantum state in a stationary memory mode. A transmon qubit then counts the number of photons in the memory mode using a series of binary questions. Using measurement based feedback, the number of questions is minimal and scales logarithmically with the maximal number of photons. The detector features a detection efficiency of \(0.96 \pm 0.04\), and a dark count probability of \(0.030 \pm 0.002\) for an average dead time of \(4.5~\mathrm{\mu s}\). To maximize its performance, the device is first used as an \emph{in situ} waveform detector from which an optimal pump is computed and applied. Depending on the number of incoming photons, the detector succeeds with a probability that ranges from \((54 \pm 2)\%\) to \(99\%\).