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arXiv:2302.12123

All optical operation of a superconducting photonic interface

Frederik Thiele, Thomas R. Hummel, Adam N. McCaughan, Julian Brockmeier, Maximilian Protte, Victor Quiring, Sebastian Lengeling, Christof Eigner, Christine Silberhorn, Tim J. Bartley

Published Feb 23, 2023• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Advanced electro-optic processing combines electrical control with optical modulation and detection. For quantum photonic applications these processes must be carried out at the single photon level with high efficiency and low noise. Integrated quantum photonics has made great strides achieving single photon manipulation by combining key components on integrated chips which are operated by external driving electronics. Nevertheless, electrical interconnects between driving electronics and the electro-optic components, some of which require cryogenic operating conditions, can introduce parasitic effects. Here we show an all-optical interface which simultaneously delivers the operation power to, and extracts the measurement signal from, an advanced photonic circuit, namely, bias and readout of a superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD) on a single stage in a 1K cryostat. To do so, we supply all power for the single photon detector, output signal conditioning, and electro-optic readout using optical interconnects alone, thereby fully decoupling the cryogenic circuitry from the external environment. This removes the need to heatsink electrical connections, and potentially offers low-loss, high-bandwidth signal processing. This method opens the possibility to operate other advanced electrically decoupled photonic circuits such as optical control and readout of superconducting circuits, and feedforward for photonic quantum computing.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2302.12123

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Advanced electro-optic processing combines electrical control with optical modulation and detection. For quantum photonic applications these processes must be carried out at the single photon level with high efficiency and low noise. Integrated quantum photonics has made great strides achieving single photon manipulation by combining key components on integrated chips which are operated by external driving electronics. Nevertheless, electrical interconnects between driving electronics and the electro-optic components, some of which require cryogenic operating conditions, can introduce parasitic effects. Here we show an all-optical interface which simultaneously delivers the operation power to, and extracts the measurement signal from, an advanced photonic circuit, namely, bias and readout of a superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD) on a single stage in a 1K cryostat. To do so, we supply all power for the single photon detector, output signal conditioning, and electro-optic readout using optical interconnects alone, thereby fully decoupling the cryogenic circuitry from the external environment. This removes the need to heatsink electrical connections, and potentially offers low-loss, high-bandwidth signal processing. This method opens the possibility to operate other advanced electrically decoupled photonic circuits such as optical control and readout of superconducting circuits, and feedforward for photonic quantum computing.
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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.
Scalable, high speed data transfer between cryogenic (0.1-4 K) and room temperature environments is instrumental in a broad range of fields including quantum computing, superconducting electronics, single photon imaging and space-based communications. A promising approach to overcome the limitations of conventional wire-based readout is the use of optical fiber communication. Optical fiber presents a 100-1,000x lower heat load than conventional electrical wiring, relaxing the requirements for thermal anchoring, and is also immune to electromagnetic interference, which allows routing of sensitive signals with improved robustness to noise and crosstalk. Most importantly, optical fibers allow for very high bandwidth densities (in the Tbps/mm2^22 range) by carrying multiple signals through the same physical fiber (Wavelength Division Multiplexing, WDM). Here, we demonstrate for the first time optical readout of a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) directly coupled to a CMOS photonic modulator, without the need for an interfacing device. By operating the modulator in the forward bias regime at a temperature of 3.6 K, we achieve very high modulation efficiency (1000-10,000 pm/V) and a low input impedance of 500 ΩΩΩ with a low power dissipation of 40 μμμW. This allows us to obtain optical modulation with the low, millivolt-level signal generated by the SNSPD. Optical communication is becoming the preferred I/O solution in modern, room temperature high performance systems, and this work demonstrates its suitability for scalable cryogenic readout, which could help achieve the full potential of superconducting technologies.
Scalable, low power, high speed data transfer between cryogenic and room temperature environments is essential for the realization of practical, large-scale systems based on superconducting technologies. Optical fiber presents a 100–1,000x lower heat load than conventional electrical wiring, relaxing the requirements for thermal anchoring, and allows for very high bandwidth densities by carrying multiple signals through the same physical fiber. By operating a CMOS modulator in the forward bias regime at a temperature of 3.6 K, we have demonstrated the optical readout of a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) without the need for an interfacing device.
Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors (SNSPD) have set leading performance benchmarks in terms of detection efficiency, low noise operation, speed, and timing accuracy. Besides scaling up the numbers of individually addressable nanowire detector channels, integration with nanophotonic functionalities as well as optical and electrical multiplexing will be key to advance single photon counting applications, such as quantum key distribution, optical quantum information processing and simulations of sampling problems. Here we show how integration of SNSPDs with nanophotonic circuit components gives rise to novel use cases. We combine highperformance waveguide-integrated SNSPDs with nano-electromechanical phase-shifters, high speed electro-optic modulators, sub-wavelength grating structures, directional coupler networks, on-chip delay lines and highly efficient and broadband 3D-interconnects to optical fibers, achieving crucial active and passive functionalities for integrated quantum photonics. We showcase the capabilities and practical relevance of photonic integrated SNSPD solutions for the example of high-rate quantum key distribution receivers.