A novel time stamping data acquisition system using a digital oscilloscope for single photon counting

In this paper we present an algorithm of signal processing that allows the use of a PC-based oscilloscope in order to count events with a time stamping register. This novel application has a direct use on recording of arrival times of individual photons detected on one or more detection channels in quantum optics experiments. In particular, we report experimental results of the time stamping acquisition with a temporal resolution of 6.4 ns of non-periodic signals from single-photon counting modules.