Experimental characterization of photon-number noise in Rarity-Tapster type interferometers

In this paper, we develop a simple model describing inherent photon-number noise in Rarity-Tapster type interferometers. This noise is caused by generating photon pairs in the process of spontaneous parametric down-conversion and adding a third photon by attenuating fundamental laser mode to single-photon level. We experimentally verify our model and present resulting signal to noise ratios as well as obtained three-photon generation rates as functions of various setup parameters. Subsequently we evaluate impact of this particular source of noise on quantum teleportation which is a key quantum information protocol using this interferometric configuration.