The seven papers included in this special section highlight recent progress in the application of superconductivity in quantum electronic and photonic devices and systems. The papers include two reviews on recent developments in superconducting nanowire single photon detectors, one review on Josephson Light Emitting Diodes, one on hybrid superconductor-semiconductor quantum devices and the last one on nanoSQUIDs. The contributed papers are on the electromagnetic properties of superconducting-based photonic crystal structures. We hope you will find this issue to be an insightful and interesting reference that will provide useful information, impact, stimulate, and promote further advances in the application of superconductivity in quantum electronics and photonics.
The seven papers included in this special section highlight recent progress in the application of superconductivity in quantum electronic and photonic devices and systems. The papers include two reviews on recent developments in superconducting nanowire single photon detectors, one review on Josephson Light Emitting Diodes, one on hybrid superconductor-semiconductor quantum devices and the last one on nanoSQUIDs. The contributed papers are on the electromagnetic properties of superconducting-based photonic crystal structures. We hope you will find this issue to be an insightful and interesting reference that will provide useful information, impact, stimulate, and promote further advances in the application of superconductivity in quantum electronics and photonics.
The purpose of this issue is to highlight the recent progress and trends in the development of novel nano- and quantum photonic technologies. The articles published in this issue cover a broad range of areas, including: 1) novel nanophotonic light sources-both classical (lasers) and nonclassical (single- and entangled photon sources); 2) nonlinear optics in nanophotonic structures; 3) quantum optics and quantum information processing based on nanophotonics platform; 4) efficient devices for optical interconnects and optical information processing based on novel nanophotonic structures. This issue contains 25 papers, including eight invited, authored by well-established research groups and promising scientists from all over the world. The invited articles include extended reviews on entangled photon generation using silicon nanowire waveguides; cavity quantum electrodynamics and lasing oscillation in single quantum dot photonic crystal nanocavity systems; quantum plasmonic circuits; theoretical analysis of few-photon single-atom cavity quantum electrodynamics; semiconductor quantum dot micropillar microcavities for quantum optics in solid state; nanofiber-based optical trapping of cold neutral atoms; switching and counting with atomic vapors in photonic-crystal fibers; and production of multiple diamondbased single-photon sources. The contributed articles cover a broad variety of key nanophotonics and quantum photonics research areas, including recently obtained results on bright single-photon emission from a quantum dot in a circular Bragg grating microcavity, supercontinuum generation in nanostructured silicon waveguides, electrically driven photonic crystal nanocavity devices, and silicon quantum dots.
This article reviews recent progress in superconducting nanodevices, with particular emphasis on fabrication methods developed for superconducting nanowires and nanoscale Josephson junctions based on different barrier materials. It evaluates the future potential of superconducting nanodevices, including nano-superconducting quantum interference devices (nanoSQUIDs), in light of improvements in nanoscale fabrication and manipulation techniques, along with their likely impacts on future quantum technology and measurement. The article first considers efforts to realize devices at the physical scale of 100 nm and below before discussing different types of Josephson junction such as trilayer junctions. It also describes the use of focused ion beam milling and electron beam lithography techniques for junction fabrication at the nanoscale and the improved energy sensitivity detectable with a nanoSQUID. Finally, it looks at a range of applications for nanoSQUIDs, superconducting single photon detectors, and other superconducting nanodevices.
It is our great pleasure to have a Special Section entitled "Superconducting Electronics for Quantum Information Technologies" in IEICE Transactions on Electronics. The quantum information technology is strongly expected to develop in the fields of quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum measurement. The superconducting electronics plays a number of important roles in these fields. In this Special Section, four invited papers, which describe superconducting quantum computers, digital electronics for controlling the quantum computers, and the quantum information processing by superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors and superconducting transition edge sensors, explained current states and future prospects in their fields. We hope the Special Section enhances the progress of related research fields and opens a new academic research area. Finally, I would like to appreciate this opportunity to the secretary and the guest associate editors for their dedicated activities to complete the Special Section.
Special Section on Progress & Trend of Superconductor-based ComputersIt is our great pleasure to have a Special Section entitled "Progress & Trend of Superconductor-based Computers" in IEICE Transactions on Electronics.Superconducting devices based on Josephson junctions exhibit low power consumption and fast switching.Superconducting transmission lines are free of dispersion up to several hundred GHz.Unique logic circuits such as fast single flux quantum (SFQ) circuits and ultralow power adiabatic quantum-flux parametron (AQFP) logic circuits were proposed and have been improved.These circuits have been well developed based on not only their theoretical advantage but also reliable design and fabrication technology of superconducting integrated circuits.Recently, strong interest on quantum computing motivates the development of superconducting quantum-bits, control and readout circuits, and their integration.In this Special Section, seven invited papers and a contributed one describe these topics: two papers for SFQ, four for AQFP, and two for key devices for quantum circuits.Finally, I would like to appreciate activities of all authors, reviewers, and members in editorial committee for completing this special section.
Single-photon detection possibility is a fundamental requirement for quantum technologies, including communication, computing and sensing. To achieve scalability and practical deployment, increasing attention is being directed toward integration of detectors with photonic integrated circuits, which offer compactness and compatibility with mass production. Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors have emerged as the leading solution, combining near-unity efficiency, high temporal performance and the ability to be embedded across a wide range of photonic material platforms. In this review we trace the development of integrated superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors from early demonstrations to recent advances, outlining the progress in device architectures, material engineering and integration strategies. We also discuss performance benchmarks, emerging alternative designs, the future opportunities and challenges for this rapidly evolving field.
Single photons and individual quantum systems are at the heart of recent developments in quantum technologies and are about to enable a variety of novel applications in sensing, communication, and computing. Photonic devices are the key to control interactions between quantum systems and light as well as to simultaneously engineer the properties of photons. For scalable quantum technologies, the employed quantum systems are solid-state based, thus placing the field of quantum photonics at the intersection of physics, nanotechnology, and material sciences. This special issue features 14 contributions and addresses recent advances in several material platforms.