Cryogenic quantum applications have a demand for an ever-higher number of interconnects and bandwidth. Photonic links are foreseen to offer data transfer with high bandwidth, low heat load, and low noise to enable the next-generation scalable quantum computing systems. However, they require high-speed and energy-efficient modulators operating at cryogenic temperatures for electro-optic signal conversion. Here, plasmonic organic electro-optic modulators operating at 4 K are demonstrated with a >100 GHz bandwidth, drive voltages as low as 96 mV, and a significant reduction in plasmonic propagation losses by over 40% compared to room temperature. Up to 160 Gbit/s and 256 Gbit/s cryogenic electro-optic signal conversion are demonstrated by performing data experiments using a plasmonic Mach–Zehnder modulator at around 1528 nm and a plasmonic ring-resonator modulator at around 1285 nm, respectively. This work shows that plasmonic modulators are ideally suited for future high-speed, scalable, and energy-efficient photonic interconnects in cryogenic environments.

中文翻译：

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低温环境中的等离激元调制器具有超过 100 GHz 的带宽并降低等离激元损耗


低温量子应用对互连数量和带宽的需求越来越高。预计光子链路将提供高带宽、低热负荷和低噪声的数据传输，以实现下一代可扩展的量子计算系统。然而，它们需要在低温下运行的高速且节能的调制器来进行电光信号转换。在此，演示了在 4 K 下运行的等离激元有机电光调制器，其带宽 >100 GHz，驱动电压低至 96 mV，并且与室温相比，等离激元传播损耗显着降低了 40% 以上。通过分别使用约 1528 nm 的等离子体马赫-曾德尔调制器和约 1285 nm 的等离子体环谐振器调制器进行数据实验，证明了高达 160 Gbit/s 和 256 Gbit/s 的低温电光信号转换。这项工作表明，等离子体调制器非常适合未来低温环境中的高速、可扩展和节能的光子互连。