Takeaways from SPW Edinburgh
The Single Photon Workshop (SPW) is the largest conference in the world dedicated to single-photon generation, single-photon detection, single-photon metrology, and single-photon applications. This year’s 11th edition in Edinburgh brought together the vibrant community of researchers and industry experts. ID Quantique (IDQ) was thrilled and proud to contribute to both the scientific track and to the technical exhibition.
From this edition, IDQ shares the following takeaways with you:
- The single-photon community is in full swing, with well-established institutions and a growing industrial field. Useful and emerging applications range from deep-space optical communications to healthcare with incredible advances in imaging the living.
- In the rapidly evolving and exciting field of Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detector (SNSPDs), three topics were featured prominently:
- Detection in the mid-IR (beyond 2 μm, and even up to 29 μm), with applications in imaging, gas sensing, and LiDAR
- Deep-space optical communication, where SNSPDs are ultimately expected to enable high-speed optical downlinks from Mars
- The latest development on photon-number resolving SNSPDs with various approaches to enable photonic quantum processors
- Recent developments in the field of single-photon sources featured prominently in the workshop, a sign that this field has been growing and producing amazing results in the last few years. Quantum dots had the biggest presence overall, and are already making an impact in small-scale quantum processors. This, combined with PICs and PNRs can lead to unprecedented computing power.
IDQ at SPW
At the workshop IDQ released two products. On the Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detector (SNSPD) side, the rack-mounted ID281 Pro detector was presented. This detector delivers the high performance that customers have come to expect from IDQ in a form factor made for modulator quantum systems.
On the Single Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) side, IDQ revealed the new ID Qube ULN (Ultra Low Noise). This NIR-telecom-SPAD has been redesigned to reach industry-leading, low dark count rates below 200 Hz. The Quantum Detection Systems division of IDQ is pushing the envelope with a product range aimed at increased performance in plug-and-play formats.
Mark Niklès, IDQ’s CRO presented a compelling keynote speech. He showed where IDQ is going with long distance commercial Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) systems and collaborations with the quantum computing community. Lorenzo Stasi, IDQ R&D Scientist, presented IDQ’s latest generation of 28-pixel photon-number-resolving SNSPDs. Lorenzo’s contribution to this development paves the way towards a unique technology that already enables a photonic quantum processor. The presentation is available here.
To request more information or a quotation for any ID Quantique products, contact IL Photonics.