attojoule Cryogenic Communication

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 photonics 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.

We will develop the building blocks for future cryogenic optoelectronic interfaces, with the long term goal of scaling up cryogenic quantum computers as well as of introducing fast and energy efficient classical cryogenic logic in supercomputers.