  Well characterized photon number resolving detectors are a requirement for
many applications ranging from quantum information and quantum metrology to the
foundations of quantum mechanics. This prompts the necessity for reliable
calibration techniques at the single photon level. In this paper we propose an
innovative absolute calibration technique for photon number resolving
detectors, using a pulsed heralded photon source based on parametric down
conversion. The technique, being absolute, does not require reference standards
and is independent upon the performances of the heralding detector. The method
provides the results of quantum efficiency for the heralded detector as a
function of detected photon numbers. Furthermore, we prove its validity by
performing the calibration of a Transition Edge Sensor based detector, a real
photon number resolving detector that has recently demonstrated its
effectiveness in various quantum information protocols.
