Error-Free Operation of Superconducting Nanowire Optical-to-Electrical Converter Connected with SFQ Circuits

We report on the demonstration of the error-free operation of optical-to-electrical (O/E) signal converter based on superconducting nanowires with single-flux-quantum circuits. Optical input pulses were generated by the pulse pattern generator and the optical modulator, and the error rate of the output signals was measured. For a 300-nm-wide device with active area of 15×15 μm², correct O/E conversion was confirmed with the error-rate of less than 10^-6 at the maximum repetition frequency of 120 MHz. The optical energy consumption per pulse was one order of magnitude lower than those of conventional semiconductor photodiodes.