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Boosting Cryostat Efficiency by IGLU Compressor Technology

Quantum technologies often require cryogenic temperatures, and so in order to move from laboratory environments with large scale infrastructure to the ‘real world’, compact and low power alternatives are being developed.
Therefore, attocube partnered with cryo.TransMIT, an experienced producer of customized pulse tube systems, and tested their very promising new small-scale pulse tube cooler, called “SUSY” – driven by the IGLU compressor.

The combination runs on a regular wall plug without the need of cooling water with remarkable efficiency values: The cryocooler achieves minimum temperatures down to <2.2 K, while the cooling power reaches 240 mW at 4.2 K at 1.3 kW compressor input power. This implies a coefficient of performance of 185 mW cooling power per 1 kW input power, placing this combination at the top of currently available cryocoolers in the low to medium input power range.

If needed, such as in mobile applications running e.g. on solar power, the energy consumption can also be lowered down to continuous 900 mW, which still yields an available cooling power of 140 mW at 4.2 K.
This extremely high efficiency in a compact form factor paves the way for future mobile applications and compact rack solutions for quantum technologies.

This measurement was realized with the IGLU Compressor.

Further reading:
cryo.TransMIT arXiv:2311.00605

Rack Mountable Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors

The delicacy of single photon signals used in quantum applications requires extremely sensitive light detectors. The unique combination of unparalleled detection efficiency and time resolution is what makes these superconducting detectors the ideal choice for quantum communication, cryptography, infrared fluorescence spectroscopy, laser ranging, and many other applications.

The detection principle of SNSPDs is based on the transition of a nanowire from the superconductive to the resistive state upon the absorption of a single photon. In a 2.5 Kelvin environment, these detectors can achieve efficiency beyond 85% for a wide range of wavelengths, and even 99.5% has been demonstrated!

Single Quantum, market leader in SNSPD systems, uses the new attocube IGLU compressor to compactify their cryogenic detector unit into a 19” rack format and to provide infrastructure autonomy. It puts this sensitive detector backbone of quantum technologies into an easy to implement package and thus ready for industrial usage.

This measurement was realized with the IGLU Compressor.

Industrialization of Single Photon Sources

Generating pure single photons in a deterministic manner has been challenging for many years in the scientific community. Due to the advances in quantum technologies, such systems have recently also become highly desirable in the industrial sector. Ultra-secure quantum communication systems and super-efficient quantum processors with unprecedented processing power are only some of the future applications that will benefit from a standalone single-photon source able to generate highly-pure single-photons efficiently.

Quandela, close partner of attocube, offers the first standalone quantum light source: “Prometheus”, a robust, efficient and easy-to-implement, 19-inch rack system, which generates bright indistinguishable single photons on demand.

Thanks to attocube’s rack mountable IGLU compressor, the required closed cycle cryocooler is fully integrated into the same 19-inch rack, removing constraints in surrounding infrastructure, hence reducing size and cost dramatically.

This measurement was realized with the IGLU Compressor.