Detecting the Internal Energy of Photons through a Graphene Josephson-Inductive Readout, Part 2

Detectors that can resolve ultra-low photon fluxes in the infrared and at microwave frequencies are an imperative tool for applications ranging from quantum computing to radio-astronomy. In traditional detectors such as superconducting nanowire and kinetic inductance detectors, the mechanisms for photon detection involve Cooper pair breaking, which imposes a limit on both the energy resolution and bandwidth of the detector. In these talks, we discuss a new paradigm for photodetection exploiting Graphene Josephson Junctions (GJJ). Our GJJ relies on the low heat capacity and broadband absorption of graphene, allowing for infrared single photon detection¹ and microwave bolometry at the single-photon level^2,3. Part 2 will focus on the experimental progress of integrating our GJJ in a superconducting RF resonator to detect the internal heat generated by infrared photons and microwave photons.

[1] E. Walsh et al. Science 372, 409-412 (2021)

[2] G.-H. Lee et al. Nature 586, 42-46 (2020)

[3] R. Kokkoniemi et al. Nature 586, 47-51 (2020)