An encodable superconducting nanowire trigger

Abstract

As a competitive technology, the superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) is developing from a single-pixel to array architecture; however, it is a major challenge for reading array detectors. We propose an encodable trigger through the thermal coupling of two adjacent superconducting nanowires, which can read a current pulse with microampere amplitude and code the current pulses of different positions with different output resistances simultaneously. At the same time, the influence of external noise on superconducting devices can be avoided for isolated circuits. As a demonstration, the response pulses of a 4-pixel SNSPD are read using this trigger in the absence of an amplifier, and the photon flux distribution of different pixels is accurately reconstructed, where the total power consumption is approximately 0.8 μW. The superconducting trigger is promising for application in integrated superconducting electronics and quantum optics in the future.