A compact 4 K cooling system for superconducting nanowire single photon detectors

Abstract

Compact, low power, robust closed-cycle cooling platforms are a key requirement for emerging low temperature quantum technologies. We have repurposed a 4 K Stirling/Joule-Thomson cooler built for the Planck space mission into a flexible demonstration system. We have verified a cooling power of 4mW at 4.7K. We have installed a fibre-coupled superconducting nanowire single-photon detector in this platform and deployed it for two key advanced infrared photon counting applications: single-photon LIDAR and dosimetry for laser cancer treatment. We discuss proposed improvements to the Stirling cooler design for increased cooling power, manufacturability and turn-key operation.