What are the main project goals?

All envisaged practical implementations of cryogenic processors, including both quantum computers and classical processors based on single flux quantum (SFQ) signals, require massive data transfer from and to classical high performance computers. The project aims to develop building blocks for cryogenic photonic interconnects and eventually enable this challenging data transfer. These building blocks need not only to be fast, but also to work at temperatures far lower compared to standard optoelectronic operation. One major limitation is the maximum allowed power dissipation in the cryostat, ranging from a few tens to a maximum of a few hundreds attojoules per bit, depending on the targeted temperature regime and data rate. Our long-term goal is the development of an open-access platform to integrate classical optical interfaces based on low-loss silicon photonics, plasmonics, and nano light sources together with photonic and electronic superconducting devices, including SFQ-based co-processors for high performance computers and quantum computers.

aCryComm news

World’s fastest photodetector, aCryComm paper published in Science.

aCryComm stands for attojoule Cryogenic Communication

attojoule: the joule is the unit of energy in the International System of Units, and atto– is the prefix corresponding to 10^-18, i.e. one billionth of a billionth (derived from the Danish word atten, meaning “eighteen”).

Cryogenic: the adjective indicating anything related to the generation of and operation at very low temperatures (from Greek κρύος (cryos) – “cold” + γενής (genis) – “generating”).

Communication: transmission of information through a given channel (from Latin communicatio, “sharing”).