Scalable Cryogenic Read-out Circuit for a Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detector System

TL;DR

This paper presents a scalable cryogenic readout circuit for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors, achieving high timing resolution and count rates with low power, suitable for multi-channel quantum applications.

Contribution

It introduces a cryogenic readout circuit using commercial amplifiers that enhances SNSPD performance and scalability.

Findings

35 ps timing resolution achieved

Over 20 million counts per second maximum rate

Less than 3 mW power per channel

Abstract

The superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD) is a leading technology for quantum information science applications using photons, and they are finding increasing uses in photon-starved classical imaging applications. Critical detector characteristics, such as timing resolution (jitter), reset time and maximum count rate, are heavily influenced by the readout electronics that sense and amplify the photon detection signal. We describe a readout circuit for SNSPDs using commercial off-the-shelf amplifiers operating at cryogenic temperatures. Our design demonstrates a 35 ps timing resolution and a maximum count rate of over 2x10^7 counts per second while maintaining <3 mW power consumption per channel, making it suitable for a multichannel readout.