Interfacing superconducting nanowire single photon detectors with cryogenic opto-electronics for quantum photonic applications

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors can be integrated with cryogenic photonic components using custom cryogenic circuitry, enabling advanced quantum photonic functionalities at very low temperatures.

Contribution

It introduces a cryogenic-compatible circuit platform for in situ interfacing of SNSPDs with photonic devices, enabling real-time control and readout in quantum photonics.

Findings

Successful optical readout of SNSPDs at 4 K

Low-latency feed-forward modulation achieved

Integration of detectors with photonic components in cryogenic environment

Abstract

Interfacing single-photon detectors with active photonic components is a cornerstone photonic quantum technology. We describe how the output signal of commercial superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors can be used in situ to drive photonic components such as lasers and electro-optic modulators, co-located in the cryostat. This is enabled by developing custom circuitry using cryogenic-compatible discrete components in the SiGe-BiCMOS platform. We have demonstrated this with a number of experiments, in particular optical readout of an SNSPD and low-latency feed-forward modulation based on single-photon measurement events, all at or below 4 K. This manuscript is an abridged version of the Master thesis of the primary author N. Lamberty.