Single photon detectors are fundamental tools of investigation in quantumoptics and play a central role in measurement theory and quantum informatics.Photodetectors based on different technologies exist at optical frequencies andmuch effort is currently being spent on pushing their efficiencies to meet thedemands coming from the quantum computing and quantum communication proposals.In the microwave regime however, a single photon detector has remained elusivealthough several theoretical proposals have been put forth. In this article, wereview these recent proposals, especially focusing on non-destructive detectorsof propagating microwave photons. These detection schemes using superconductingartificial atoms can reach detection efficiencies of 90\% with existingtechnologies and are ripe for experimental investigations.
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