A device capable of efficiently detecting a single-photon signal preserves a photon characteristic such as polarization or angular momentum. The device can include a beam splitter that splits an input photon state into modes that are distinguished by states of a characteristic of signal photons in the input photon state, a non-destructive measurement system capable of measuring a total number of photons in the modes without identifying a photon number for any individual one of the modes; and a beam combiner positioned to combine the modes after output from the non-destructive detection system.