781 Mbit/s photon-counting optical communications using a superconducting nanowire detector

Area of Science:

• Optical Communications
• Quantum Technology
• Superconducting Devices

Background:

• Photon-counting receivers are crucial for low-light optical communication systems.
• Superconducting single-photon detectors offer high efficiency and low noise for detecting single photons.
• Advancements in detector technology are key to increasing data transmission rates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate high-speed optical communication using a photon-counting receiver.
• To evaluate the performance of a niobium nitride (NbN) nanowire superconducting single-photon detector (SSPD) at 1550 nm.
• To achieve error-free data transmission at unprecedented rates.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 1550 nm NbN-nanowire SSPD for photon detection.
• Employed a rate-1/2 forward-error correcting code for data encoding.
• Implemented 32-ary pulse-position modulation (32-PPM) at 5 and 10 GHz slot rates.

Main Results:

• Achieved error-free optical communication at a source data rate of 781 Mbits/s.
• Demonstrated performance with -0.5 detected photons per source bit.
• This represents the highest reported data rate for a photon-counting receiver to date.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully demonstrates the potential of NbN-nanowire SSPDs for high-speed photon-counting optical communication.
• The achieved data rate significantly advances the capabilities of single-photon receiver technology.
• This work paves the way for future ultra-high-speed optical communication systems.