Prof. Karl Berggren gave a presentation on Integerated Electronics for Superconducting-nanowire Single-photon Detector Readouts at the SPIE Quantum West conference this January. The recording of this presentation is now available in the SPIE Digital Library. To access the talk, you may need to be on a University or library network. 

Abstract

Superconducting single-photon detectors are a key technology for quantum information science, being of particular use for quantum key distribution and photonics-based quantum computing. However, the biasing, readout, and signal processing associated with the detector is typically handled by off-chip conventional semiconductor electronics. Increasingly, this solution is proving problematic: such electronics consume large amounts of power and are cumbersome to integrate on the same chip as the detectors. Superconducting classical electronics relying on Josephson junctions are an alternative, but require an integrated fabrication process, which adds complexity to the device. An alternative is to use the superconducting nanowires themselves, in the form of “cryotrons”, an alternative to Josephson junction superconducting switches first proposed in the 1950s, but recently experiencing renewed interest with scaling to the nanometer length scale. These technologies and applications of them to SNSPD readout and signal processing will be discussed.

The full talk can be found in the SPIE Digital Library here.